


Hot Night Crash

by AsekaSilver, AwwwCoffee_No, JustNibblin



Series: Elective Amnesia [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Judy centric, Minor Injuries, buddy cop story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-07-15 09:46:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7217533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsekaSilver/pseuds/AsekaSilver, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwwwCoffee_No/pseuds/AwwwCoffee_No, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustNibblin/pseuds/JustNibblin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything at the First Precinct is well again; the grievances of the computer store robbery have faded into memory. But ZPD Officer Judy Hopps is looking forward to taking the next step in her partnership with the force’s first fox officer. With Nick incapacitated and an abundance of free time in their paws, now seems like the perfect time to start.<br/>But Judy Hopps will realize that even too cool for school Nick Wilde, has his hang-ups. The only question that remains is if and how they'll get through them.<br/>***[CHAPTER FIVE IS NOW UP]***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Cold Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by AsekaSilver and JustNibblin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, it's time for another round of 'how long can AwwwCoffee_No create fics without ruining this fandom'. To be fair I'm cheating, fellow AO3 users JustNibblin and AsekaSilver have kindly agreed to beta for me.  
> As usual and always, I do NOT own any of the characters or the Zootopia universe. Heck even the characters I do create are puns or ripped off another Disney/fictional character. I'm not going to repeat the warning again in this fic, but it's here for reference.  
> Now that all of that is over, please enjoy the first chapter that me and the beta's have cobbled together.

* * *

_“We've been here before,_  
_We're stuck and I'm halfway through your door._  
_I've said it before,_  
_Listen, this is the last time we won't fool ourselves no more._  
_Been at it for days,_  
_We are brand new but we're already set in our ways._  
_I find it hard to believe,_  
_We fall to pieces way too easily.”_  
  
\- **Sahara Hotnights** , _“Hot Night Crash”_

* * *

 

It was an icy wonderland outside the window, and the light dusting of snow landing on the glass reminded her of a snow globe settling. Almost incomprehensibly, the scorching sands of Sahara Square lay just over the wall of biome-turbines that divided the two districts. But here, the mercury dropped well below freezing. ZPD Officer Judy Hopps watched, safe in the warm confines of the squad car, as Tundratown’s residents walked home from work, every one of them bundled up into heavy hooded jackets against the ever-present cold.

The passenger side door opened, and Judy turned her head to watch her partner, Officer Nicholas Wilde, climb into his seat. There was a suspiciously broad grin on his face. His red fur was fluffier in the cold, and his emerald eyes lit up under the ZPD issue baseball cap pulled low on his skull.

In his paws he carried two steaming takeaway cups of coffee. The bitter smell floated to Judy’s pink triangular nose, making her brain awaken at the promise of caffeine. She eyed the two cups with a sidelong glance, taking one when he offered it.

“Someone looks chipper. I don’t suppose there is a red-furred vixen working the counter in there, by any chance?” Judy Hopps pointed out absently, keeping her own personal feelings relatively well hidden. But the smirk on her lips didn’t quite come off as authentic. She hid it with a sip of the black brew.

Nick looked up, tugging his police issue parka off his narrow vulpine frame. He took a sip of his own over-sweetened coffee before addressing her, “What makes you say that, Carrots?”

Judy hummed, looking out the window toward the direction he had come from, “Oh, I don’t know-- how about the fact that the shop’s slogan is ‘DRINK UP, WE’LL KEEP YOU BRIGHT EYED AND BUSHY TAILED,’ with a cute little winkie face to boot. Or maybe it’s the phone number scrawled on my cup. I don’t know, any of this ringing any bells?”

Nick’s eyes flickered to the Styrofoam cup in realisation before shooting back up to her eyes. If his fur wasn’t so red, she swore she’d see him blush. But the embarrassed smile was more than enough confirmation. Laughing now, she added, “I take it she didn’t know which was yours?”

The fox held up a nimble red claw, “For the record, it was an arctic vixen, not a red. And secondly, it’s not my fault the ladies love a fox in uniform.”

He gestured to his navy uniform and the darker tie that ran the length of his body. Judy smirked, taking a sip of her bitter drink, “And you didn’t flirt at all?”

“I’m not saying _that_ , per se. It would have been impolite not to return her attention, Carrots.”

Judy’s raised eyebrow and snarky smirk didn’t falter in the slightest as she added, “And you’re nothing if not a gentleman, huh Nick?”

Nick made a show of adjusting his tie and sitting a little straighter, flashing her a toothy grin.  “That’s exactly right. Don’t believe a word you hear otherwise.”

Judy let it go for a moment, concentrating on sipping her drink. It was plain, with just a dash of cream, the way she’d had it since she was a kid trying caffeine for the very first time. It was rather mundane in comparison to her partner’s, whose order was a mouthful: Double shot caramel latte with banana syrup, three sugars and cinnamon. Needless to say, she’d given up keeping track of his preferences, and it had become Nick’s unofficial duty to order the coffees.

Absently, she suggested, “Maybe she got the wrong cup because of your coffee choice.”

Nick paused, said coffee halfway to his lips. He looked at her, then his coffee, and then back again. His words were slow, with a hint of warning, as he asked, “What’s wrong with my coffee?”

“Nothing.” Judy could smell the sickly sweet aroma from where she sat. “It’s just what my dad would call a ‘metro-sexual’s drink’.”

“A metro-what-ual?” Nick pouted, evidently recognising that this _wasn’t_ a compliment.

“Let’s just say your order is kinda... feminine. I’m thinking your vixen friend just assumed you’d be drinking the more –shall I say, _manly_ \-- drink.”

Nick sputtered, “I- What? That’s sexist, or it would be if it was true. My drink is _so_ manly. Only real alpha males drink these.”

Judy raised a grey eyebrow, not bothering to hide her shit-eating grin, “Cinnamon? Really?”

Nick narrowed his eyes at her, tilting his head up indignantly. Taking the moral high ground as it were. 

He said in a spoilt drawl, nimbly changing the subject, “For the record, I’m still thoroughly disappointed we even have to be here.”

Judy gave him a pointed look, noting his languid posture as he drank his coffee. He was in one of his whining moods it seemed, and she rolled her eyes tiredly. It was one of the burdens of working with Nick Wilde. Pursing her lips she gave in, “Disappointed?  Why?”

“This assignment, Judy,” he stated like it should be obvious. “It’s bullshit. And I’m not just saying that because the chief’s a buffalo either.”

Judy winced, more at the topic than his vocabulary, “Not this again. We’ve been over this already, Nick.”

He crossed his arms in front of him like a petulant kit, “Well I want to go over it again. Where does Bogo get off assigning us to ‘graffiti patrol’ whilst McHorn gets THE case?”

“McHorn is a highly experienced officer, Nick; he’s perfectly capable of chasing the lead on Doug.” Judy reminded him, finding amusement in the way he pouted.

He held up both paws, making the numbers one and zero in emphasis, “Ten months Hopps, that’s almost a whole year since Mayor Smellwether went jail bird and the ram has been in the wind that entire time. ZPD finally gets a lead and Bogo won’t give us the fucking case? We’re the reason there’s even a case to begin with.”

Judy felt her mouth tighten as she shifted gears and touched the accelerator to send the car into a purring crawl. Emotionally she agreed. She wanted the case. But she also knew why they couldn’t have it; “It’s a legal thing Nick,” she explained, “stopping him almost a year ago and then being the one to catch him now. Makes it seem like we have an agenda against him.”

“Don’t we?” Nick asked deadpan. Judy really hoped he was joking, or mistaken.

But she stopped mid-thought staring out across the street. Taking a paw off the wheel she nudged Nick, trying to get his attention. Unperturbed, Nick exclaimed, “I’m kidding Carrots, of course I’m kidding.”

“No, Nick. Look!” Judy pointed to what had caught her eye, before pulling over to the side of the road. It was a large design on the side of a house, etched in red and green spray paint. It featured a green eyeball nestled in front of a red sun, watching all those under its gaze. The fiery flames branched out like compass points threatening to spread in every direction.

Nick understood at once. This was their guy. He started unbuckling his seatbelt to get out. But of course he had to make a comment--the fox could do no actual work without one. “You know Carrots, that thing looks like that eyeball from the Hoppit movies.”

Judy rolled her eyes at her friend’s misinformation, “First of all it’s Sauron, and secondly Slick, you are thinking of the Lord of the Rings. Not the Hoppit movies.”

In return Nick just grinned smugly, “I knew you were a nerd, Hopps.  Now I have proof.”

She opened her window and called out to the fox’s back as he crossed the street. “Oh shut up.” She heard him laugh as he made his way over to the painting and inspected it. Meanwhile she turned her eyes onto the surrounding building.

The house in question was an old brownstone, the type you saw in a sitcom. But the slow decay, combined with the snow covering its roof and eaves, reminded Judy of a gingerbread house instead of a classic home. It looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a decade, which she supposed explained why someone chose to vandalise it. At least the artist was considerate, she mused.

Across the street Nick reached out a paw and touched the graffiti once before running back to the car and jumping into his seat. Once in, he held up a paw, the pads stained a bright green. It was a strange contrast to his red fur but Judy recognised its significance even without Nick’s announcement, “It’s still wet.”

With the frigid temperature, it didn’t take long for paint to freeze. Which meant the culprit couldn’t have gone far on foot. They might’ve had a car waiting, Judy reflected dourly. But they’d finally caught a break, and Judy refused to be pessimistic in light of it.

She crept the car forwards, maintaining a slow cruising speed as they scanned the streets. It was a slow process, one Judy wasn’t comfortable with given her active nature. When the tension became too much she resorted to small talk, her eyes still trained on the job as her tongue worked off the nervous energy.

“What do you think we’ll find?” she queried, “Fanatics? All the graffiti has been anti-government and about sticking it to the man.”

Nick shook his head, “I doubt it. Most likely it’s some pup doing it for shits and .”

Judy snapped up to look at him, a teasing smirk on her face, “Aren’t you a little old to be saying ‘shits and giggles’?”

“Hey, I’m still kicking, Carrots.” Nick gave her a disapproving glare, grumbling in a stage whisper, “I’m not too old.”

Judy sniggered as she looked back around, looking once again for anything out of the ordinary. In the frozen streets of Tundra Town very few people were out driving, the icy surface of the road being too slick for most cars. So everyone walked the streets or took the train. Fortunately, even foot traffic was subdued for once, and it didn’t take long for both of them to spot a likely suspect.

Shuffling down the street was a mammal in ratty clothing. Grey hoodie, baggy jeans and a gym bag slung over a shoulder. With the hood drawn up, Judy couldn’t identify the suspect’s species. But what she did see practically confirmed it.

On the cuffs of the mammal’s jumper were bright smears and even from this distance she could make out the colours of green and red against the grey fabric. The mammal was only of a middling size; a head taller than Nick but Judy caught a peek of the suspect’s hooves. Antelope -maybe, or deer? Nothing they couldn’t handle, it was too small to be a cow at least. The duo didn’t exactly have a glorious history with members of the bovine family.

She turned to report all this information to her partner but was cut off by an order from Nick, he’d already seen it. Pointing over to the side of the road, he told her, “Pull over here, Carrots, I’ll approach on foot. If he runs you cut him off, ‘kay?”

His face was lit up, green eyes bright and ears perking up on either side of his favourite hat. Judy swore that if his smile got any more eager his tongue would hang out, and she’d never let him live it down. But she hesitated, “You sure Nick? I mean you’ve only just healed from that time with...”

“Carrots, I got this,” he told her, squeezing her arm gently with a red paw, “nothing’s going to happen.”

Judy felt the warmth of the touch like a fire, heating her to an almost painful extreme before he pulled it away. Quickly, in an attempt to avoid blushing she pulled the car once again to park, “Fine. But if you wind up in the hospital it’s your own fault.”

“Ha ha, Hopps. Don’t you worry your cute little tail, I feel like a million bucks.”

With those last words he was out of the car, too swiftly for Judy to remind him to bring his parka. She sighed in resignation; despite having nearly ten years on her, Nick was like a kid sometimes. But she couldn’t fault him for being overzealous; it had been scarcely a week since he was given the all clear from the doctors and his casts had come off. Penance for the time he had gone toe to toe with a bull. Now finally able to move freely once more, Nick was a ball of restless energy.

Not to mention, the fox was vivacious in this climate. Even the lightest humidity caused him to pant and sweat, but in the cold of the tundra or the shade of the rainforest he was bursting at the seams with joy. Though, he did have to have an extra cup of coffee in the morning (on top of his usual three) in order to fight off his natural instincts to hibernate in the colder temperature. Judy as well, but she didn’t favour the chill as much as he seemed to.

She watched him strut down the street, out of place without a jacket. Judy moved the squad car forwards slowly, in case Nick needed her suddenly, but kept her eye on the fox. His auburn fur stood out in the white and blues of Tundra Town’s streets, like a lighthouse in the dark.

He approached the hooded figure casually, calling out to the creature’s back. His face maintained that bright smile from earlier, friendly in all aspects. The classic Nick Wilde charm.

It was lost on the hooded figure as it turned around to face the fox police officer, and Judy caught a picture of the creature’s equine snout. A horse then; or more likely a pony, given the height. The horse’s mouth dropped open wide as it caught sight of first Nick’s blue uniform and then the white and black squad car not far behind. She could already guess its course of action.

The horse bolted, going from zero to forty like a bullet from a gun.

Judy expected Nick to hop back in the car where they could pursue easily, but was startled when the car radio crackled to life. Nick’s voice was laced with static. _“Carrots, he’s heading down an alleyway, taking a shortcut through the block. Take the car around and head him off, I’ll follow on foot.”_

Anyone else would have argued that they were both the same rank; he couldn’t just boss her around. But Judy shrugged it off; they were partners. And it was actually a good plan.

She gunned the engine, enjoying the throaty roar as it was allowed to run free. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Nick tearing down an alleyway after the suspect. She spared a second to reply and turn on the sirens, before powering into a sharp U-turn, “Roger that Nick, I’m on my way.”

She approached the corner perhaps a little too fast to be safe on the icy surface, but she enjoyed experiencing the squad car’s unique tires operate; they’d been specifically designed for this terrain. Hundreds of hardened studs protruded from the tire’s rubber surface, finding purchase like the crampon shoes worn by mountain climbers. There was a delightful crunching sound as the car swung around the bend, narrowly missing one of the few other cars on the streets.

Overhead the sirens blared like a cacophony of preschoolers learning to play music; obnoxiously loud and frustrating. Every pedestrian flinched in reaction. And that was why Nick usually insisted on being the one to engage them; he got to annoy a whole street of mammals, instead of the usual one at a time. Judy Hopps smirked at the thought as she swung hard around the second turn, eyes on the lookout for the sprinting horse. With its long legs and body built for running, it’d be impossible for Nick to catch it.

This was why she skidded to a halt in surprise when she caught a glimpse of red fur in front of her. Nick was sitting languidly on a milk crate with the handcuffed equine mammal face first in the snow beside him. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat as Judy pulled into a park across the street. She wound down the window slowly, openly staring.

“Took your time, Hopps!” he called out.

“How the heck did you catch him? I’m pretty sure this violates the laws of physics.” Judy returned as she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the driver’s seat. She was genuinely impressed.

“Laws? Hah!” he guffawed as he pulled the culprit to his feet.

Now free of a face full of snow, the horse whinnied loudly, “That’s not fair! You cheated fox.”

“It’s not cheating,” Nick drawled without dropping his smug smile, and tapped his head to illustrate, “it’s called using your brain.”

So many things happened then; it wouldn’t be till hours later that Judy remembered them all in order. Judy opened the door to the back of the squad car, oblivious to the lone car turning onto the street a good distance off. Nick was already guiding the prisoner across the road, as she was intent on the operation going as smoothly as possible. It was a quick motion to move the junk off the seats; a mixture of police gear, cold weather clothing and empty takeaway cups.

The first time she noticed anything wrong it was the sound of the unseen car accelerating. The loud revving of the engine made her pause, looking up. On the road, Nick and the suspect froze as well. Their heads whipped around to see a medium sized red sedan headed straight for them, already a moving blur.

There was just enough time for Nick to jump out of the way before it hit them. More specifically, there would have been. Instead of diving clear of the oncoming vehicle, Nick planted his feet and pushed the horse square in the back, hurling him forward into Judy.

Time seemed to slow as it happened. Judy watched as Nick made one last effort to jump out of the car’s path, his arms coming up to protect his skull as his legs sprang up. He was almost clear when it collided, the grill impacting with his legs first and sending him spinning. His body hit the windscreen and tumbled over and onto the cold hard road behind it.

That was all she saw before the horse, thrown by Nick moments before, collided with her. Both of them went to the ground in a tangle of limbs. For a terrifying moment Judy thought she’d be crushed when the horse fell over her. Intentionally or not, their prisoner caught himself on his elbows and knees, holding his weight off her. Quickly coming to her senses, Judy rolled out from underneath him and rushed to where Nick had fallen.

She skidded to a stop on her knees, thankful for the reinforced knee pads that were a part of her uniform. ZPD’s first fox police officer lay in a crumpled heap, making no sound. Judy’s heart clenched as she rolled him over, his red fur made it near impossible to see any bleeding at first glance.

Behind her she heard the suspect mumble, “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...” but she couldn’t afford to give herself the same luxury. First things first; check if he’s breathing.

Carefully Judy placed her ear to his chest. A lifetime seemed to pass before she heard it, the distinct thump of his heart beating. She sighed in relief, only now noticing the puffs of air culminating from his snout.

“It’s going to be alright Nick, you’re going to be alright.” She said, more to herself than the unconscious fox next to her. The second step was to see if he was bleeding anywhere, but she couldn’t tell where red fur started and crimson blood would begin. Starting to panic slightly, she skipped to the next step...

She heard the crunching of hooves on ice behind her before the suspect spoke again, “Shit, um. Is he okay?”

Judy turned to the horse, surprised he hadn’t made a run for it whilst she’d been indisposed. His hood had fallen off, and there was genuine worry in his brown eyes. She was further surprised to see that he _wasn’t_ a horse or a pony, but a zebra. And only a colt at that; she estimated him to be around fourteen, given his size. Nick was right it seemed, only a kid out getting his kicks.

She snapped herself from her examination and pointed at the front compartment of the squad car, “I need you to watch him while I call in an ambulance. Let me know if anything changes; breathing, consciousness, whatever. I’ll be right over there, okay?”

The zebra colt swallowed hard before nodding, his eyes seemed to bulge at the responsibility he’d been given. Judy waited until he kneeled down beside her and said with a voice barely above a whisper, “Okay.”

“Great,” she said as she stood up, patting him on the back. She swiftly made her way to the open front door. Leaning in, she pulled the radio handset to the cord’s longest length so she could keep an eye on the two boys as she talked. Pressing the bar she identified herself, “Dispatch, this is Officer Hopps. Do you copy?”

It was only a few moments of silence before a burst of static signalled the response,

_“Heeey Judy, how are you doing? What’s going on out there in the big city?”_

Benjamin Clawhauser was Precinct One’s receptionist, radio dispatcher and company bookie. A large bubbly cheetah, he was in a word flamboyant, and always eager to chew the ear off his favourite rabbit officer. Judy struggled to keep the growl out of her voice as she replied, “Not now Clawhauser. I need an ambulance dispatched to Snowcastle Way in Tundratown. We got a 480” It was the code for a hit and run.

She glanced up down the street, only now noticing the car’s disappearance. They didn’t even stop to check. In a somewhat shakier voice, “It’s Nick, Ben. He’s hit.”

_“Christ, 10-4 Judy. I’ll get on the horn now; you just keep an eye on him you hear?”_

Judy nodded uselessly, but was distracted by a cry of pain. Quickly, she replied, “Roger that Ben, I’ve got to go.”

She didn’t even spare the time to replace the handset, in the time it would have taken, she was already at the fox’s side once more. She saw Nick coming to with a litany of curses, his breathing short and harsh in pain. The colt waved his hands around in panic, “He just woke up out of nowhere sir- I mean ma’am. Shit, he’s hurt, I think it’s his leg. Fuck, its- it’s broken.”

Judy saw immediately what the equine teenager was talking about. Midway down one of Nick’s calves, the bone was jutting up in two places that caused his pant leg to tent awkwardly. She knelt down beside her partner again, trying to keep an overwhelming sense of panic down. There was nothing she could do, except talk to him.

She placed a paw on his shoulder, watching his green eyes search blankly for a moment before finding her face through the haze of confusion. He tried to put on a brave smile, but failed pathetically.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck me!” he cursed, and she knew he was holding back for her benefit, he could be a lot more colourful with his words. He knew she was uncomfortable with vulgarity, so he tried. Still his pain needed to vent, “This kills C-carrots. F-fuck!”

When Judy attempted to smile, she was sure she failed as miserably as he did. Not sure what to say, she joked, “Maybe later, once you’re better.”

It was the kind of humour she knew he and Officer Delgato enjoyed; the tigress and fox had idled through a day more than once trying to make the other uncomfortable with innuendos. They had only succeeded in making Judy blush like a beetroot from her parent’s farm. She thought she’d explode at Delgato’s lewd suggestions .

Nick glanced up at her, his face blank before he huffed out a pained laugh, “You’re fucking joking at a time like this, Carrots. I’m dying over here!”

“You’re not dying Nick,” Judy resisted the urge to swat him for his melodrama, a good decision given the circumstances. Eager to keep him talking and out of shock, she asked, “But just in case I’m wrong, tell me where it hurts?”

“Everywhere. I’m pretty sure I broke my everything, and my leg’s on fucking fire-.” Judy pushed him back down when he attempted to lift himself up to see the mentioned limb. She was certain a visual confirmation of his injury was the last thing he needed.

“It’s okay Nick, you’re going to be fine.” She told him, relieved to hear the sound of sirens far off, “I called it in. An ambulance is on its way, they’ll get you to the hospital. You’ll be okay, I promi-.”

She was cut off by his abrupt laughter; it was so hearty it threatened to drive the fox into cardiac-arrest. Half-thinking Nick had finally snapped and half-worried he couldn’t breathe, she grabbed his shoulders properly to stop him from worsening his injuries in his fit. When he finally slowed down enough, she asked him, “What’s so funny, fox?”

He seemed to have done some damage despite Judy’s efforts, because he hissed in pain, “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. You had to fucking say it didn’t you, Carrots?”

“What?”

He looked her in the eye, a much more authentic smile on his muzzle. His white canines flashed as he mimicked, “ _If you wind up in the hospital it’s your own fault.”_

He took a moment to lick his lips, Judy returning his smile as he added--before descending into another fit of laughter--“You fucking jinxed me, Hopps.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did everyone think?  
> As always ask any questions/ make any remarks you want and I'll try to reply as swiftly as anthropomorphically (I think that's the right word) possible.


	2. Benched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! A new chapter, I'm so excited!  
> Enjoy, and feel free to thank the beta's that my rampant slang was kept to a minimum.

Judy had seen Nick injured before. She’d seen him beaten black and blue and purple like an impressionist’s painting when he had cracked the Sahara Square robbery just a couple months earlier. Back then, he’d been suffering from broken ribs as well as a multitude of other fractures in his arm and face, yet he’d still put on a brave smile and shrugged off any concern.

He was kind of a jerk like that, she realised. As much as she wanted to sing the praises of her russet-furred partner, she couldn’t deny he had the same macho stubbornness that all male officers had whenever they got hurt. Judy purposely ignored any traitorous rumours that she was just as stubborn. Because she wasn’t.

But Nick was on a whole other level. In almost a year of working with the quick-witted fox, she’d only seen him anything other than his usual smug self twice tops. See, Nick’s rule was ‘to never let them see they get to you.’

She realised later that this was the first warning sign of how badly Nick was actually injured.

She’d intended to drive the zebra graffiti artist to the precinct once the paramedics arrived, and a backup patrol car driven by Officers Wolford and Grizzolli. The two predator officers were here per standard procedure, as happened whenever any officer was compromised. But Judy suspected they wouldn’t be needed.

Regardless, she explained the situation as quickly as possible, eager to get off that accursed street. The street lamp above her flickered, winking as though this was the most fun it’d had in ages, being privy to the drama that unfolded. Judy ignored it with an aggravated flick of the ear, and continued telling how they had caught the suspect. The zebra, a city born colt by the name of Martin Stripes, hadn’t even argued or attempted an escape. He was clearly in too much shock after the rogue car had nearly killed him.

Glass half full, this made it a lot easier to get through the whole thing.

Judy had bundled him into the back of the car, ensuring he was safely secured before a voice called her name from behind. Nick was strapped in a gurney, being rolled into the back of the ambulance when he called her name. Her actual name; not some nickname; allowing her to hear the emotion in his voice.

It was only when she moved to his side, with the permission of the paramedics, that he spoke again. His words were almost too soft to hear, she almost missed them even with her specie’s advanced hearing.

“Please don’t go.”

Judy tilted her head, not quite sure she heard him correctly. Hesitantly she asked, “Excuse me?”

He seemed to shrink into the gurney mattress as he met her eyes. The green orbs were wide, panicked and although his voice was louder this time, it was no less fragile, “Stay, please?”

She sat there frozen, confused and concerned. It was like a lightning bolt had hit her- she stared at him, numb from shock. Nicholas Wilde was her rock, the fox that was too cool for school. He was the mammal who should have been her mortal enemy, but had instead become her best friend. Nothing fazed him.

Except now it did.

She turned back to look at the squad car, torn between duty and loyalty. It was her job to bring the suspect in. It was expected of her, she was perfectly healthy and the arresting officer. And yet her partner needed her, wasn’t her job also to be there for him?

Sure, she had entertained the thought of offering to ride back with Nick, and leave the arrest to Wolford and Grizolli. But she had never deluded herself that Nick might accept her offer. As she said, he was remarkably stubborn when it came to his wellbeing. Now that he’d initiated the offer, she found herself unsure of what to do.

She was saved the seemingly difficult decision when the other two officers walked over. Nick seemed to clam up, his face taking on a hardened mask. His reasoning was clear; he didn’t want to seem weak in front of their male co-workers. Perhaps that was why he’d been so quiet before, because he didn’t want them to overhear.

Apparently they didn’t need to, because the grey-furred wolf named Wolford stepped up to them abruptly, “Me and Grizzoli talked and decided we’d take the kid back, Hopps.”

Instinctively, Judy made a sound of argument, but Jacob Wolford stopped her by resting his large paw on her shoulder. Looking her in the eye, he said, “You should be with your partner right now, Judy.”

It was then she noticed that all eyes were on her, including Nick’s. He seemed to be watching her astutely, the pain failing to dull his bright green eyes. Judy’s grey fur seemed to burn under the gaze, despite the cold snow air. Awkwardly she chewed her bottom lip, “What about the squad car?”

Grizzoli perked up, a smile courting his feline features as he said, “I hope you don’t mind me messing with your seat. My legs are a bit longer than yours.”

Judy laughed along with the other two at the comparison. She didn’t know what to say; she needed to go with Nick to the hospital. Not just for his sake; she’d feel irreparably guilty if she didn’t. So she chose the easiest words.

 “Thanks, you guys.”

Both officers bobbed their heads, the motion sending Grizzoli’s mane shaking forth like a heavy metal fan head-banging in a mosh pit. Jake then shooed her further into the ambulance, explaining, “We’ll fill the Chief in, alright Hopps?”

With that Judy finally relented, supplying her own nod. In a slow sort of subdued motion, she let herself relax onto one of the ambulance’s benches and focus on one thing, her partner.

She’d almost jumped after the van started, and something touched her hand. Looking down she recognised Nick’s paw, held tightly in her own smaller one, his skin cold and clammy despite the thick red fur covering it. But when she turned to see his face, his eyes stubbornly avoided meeting hers.

For a moment she was irritated, feeling like he was ashamed to need her support, but the feeling faded away within a second. Nick was hurt, and she’d let him have his moment if that is what he needed. He could take all the comfort he needed.

 

That was how she found herself in the hospital room, sitting in the chair next to a dozing fox, and feeling close to napping herself. She hadn’t left his side, save to let the doctors work. Now his foot was covered in a cast and raised above the bed, coloured blue on Nick’s insistence. Judy couldn’t help smirking at the image. It seemed that the navy police uniform had grown on him.

Tiredly, she looked at the clock; it read half an hour before midnight. Her exhaustion surprised her as her regular night shift wouldn’t even have finished for another few hours. After which, she normally would have been on her way to her crummy closet of an apartment.  At least coming in that late, she’d be likely to avoid her landlady, who was still waiting for her to renew or terminate her lease, as she had been waiting for a month now for a decision. But Judy had been loath to say until she herself knew. Sure, she and Nick had agreed to move somewhere together, but they hadn’t even looked yet. Things just kept getting in the way; work, reports, stubborn foxes.

“Ahem.” Judy snapped to the present, she hadn’t even noticed the door opening. In the frame stood a stark white wolf that she recognised as one of the more colourful officers of Precinct One, Fangmeyer. His fur almost blended in to the sterile off-white walls of the hospital, only ruined by his clothes. He was wearing a purple jersey and black track pants, a stark contrast to his usual ZPD uniform. He gave her a light smile as he called out, “Hey, Hopps!”

Judy stood up, sparing one more glance at her sleeping friend before stepping outside with the wolf. Fangmeyer had a tendency to get excited over everything he did, and she didn’t want to wake Nick up with his shenanigans. Closing the door quietly, she replied, “Hey, Fang, what are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”

In response, he snapped a mock salute. It looked kind of ridiculous in the purple shirt with a big white number thirty-six printed on the front. “Reporting for babysitting duty sir- I mean, ma’am!”

Judy gave him a withering glance, “Seriously, what are you doing?”

He pouted, looking genuinely exasperated that she didn’t get the idea. It was then she noticed the ‘get well soon’ balloon tied on a string to his left paw. What was really surprising was that she hadn’t noticed it earlier, bright yellow and hovering along next to Fangmeyer’s head as it was. Someone had hastily scrawled ‘AGAIN’ under the more traditional message in red marker.

He jerked a thumb at himself, “I’m staying with Nick,” he twisted his hand to point one large claw at the centre of Judy’s vest, “ _You_ are going home.”

Judy blinked; sure that she had misheard him. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes you are,” he said sternly, or as sternly as a wolf could look whilst also harbouring a perpetually goofy grin, “Don’t make me pull rank.”

“What rank? We graduated the same class. In fact, I was valedictorian so if anything I outrank _you_.”

Fangmeyer’s face fell, and Judy swore she could hear him debating the point in his head. Then his face lit up again, like a pup whose parents had sided with him against his siblings for the very first time, “Ah, but the Chief outranks all of us, and I’m here as per his instructions.”

“The Chief ordered you to come and watch Nick?” Judy asked sardonically and placed her paws on her hips for emphasis. She even threw a head tilt in for the cherry on top of her sarcasm.

It was like Fangmeyer didn’t even register the sarcasm, “The Chief ordered you to be in his office nine o’clock tomorrow morning, but he knew you wouldn’t leave Red alone unless someone else stayed to watch over him. So our glorious leader chose someone at random and Shazam! I’m Nick’s new fretting god mother, and you get the night off.” He topped off the last sentence with the sway of jazz hands, like a magician talking up their act.

“You got picked?” Something didn’t add up, no one in their right mind would ever assign the hyperactive and childlike Fangmeyer to watch over a resting patient. Not if they had the patient’s best interest at heart.

“Well…. I _may_ have volunteered, on the condition that I don’t get assigned traffic duty with Francine over the next month.” He admitted, and Judy smirked at the reason. Francine Trunkaby had an interesting but humiliating solution to the size problem an elephant-sized car offered the smaller members of the ZPD.  Judy herself had suffered through it once before.

She raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to make me feel better about leaving him with you?”

“That depends if it’s working or not.” He said, before giving up with a grumble, “Come on Hopps. Do you seriously think that you are the only one who cares about him? Or you? Or both of you? It’s not you two against the world anymore, so stop acting like it.”

This time when he tried to look stern, it actually worked. Judy felt the weight of his words embolden his righteous glare until she had no choice but to agree.

“Fine,” Judy sighed before throwing a glance back at the door, “Just fill him in when he wakes up, would you?”

She vaguely heard the reply of ‘Sure thing,’ as she snuck back into the room. Nick was still sleeping, undisturbed. He looked almost peaceful in his angelic state, and the illusion was only shattered by a broken leg and the bruising on his bare face and arms.

Arriving at the bedside table, she palmed her phone and keys from where they were lying. Shoving them into the pockets of her police uniform, she took one look around for anything she might have missed. Inadvertently, her gaze found itself lingering on Nick once more.

His face was turned towards her, and a light snore escaped his muzzle. The light from the open door also surreptitiously lit up his face, but his eyes remained resolutely closed. Judy felt a childish need to do something, to say something, to inform her fox that she was leaving her post.

Again that niggling worry pricked at her. What if something happened when she was gone? Shaking her head slightly, she reached out and smoothed down a small tuft of fur on his cheek; her lingering touch a silent promise to be back soon. The unconscious fox nuzzled closer to the contact, and she had to smile. It was as if he didn’t want her to leave either.

It wasn’t until she forcibly turned herself away and moved towards the door that she realised Fangmeyer had been watching her. She froze, the skin under her grey fur blossoming red like a sunrise. It was for only a moment though, and then she determinedly kept walking out. She avoided making eye contact as she mumbled a ‘good night’.

Any second now, she knew he’d accuse her of having feelings for the fox. Non-platonic feelings.

“Judy,” Fangmeyer’s cautious tone made her look up. He didn’t sound like he was disgusted with her. He was palming his paws in front of himself, the balloon’s ribbon now tied to a nearby chair. When the question came, it wasn’t quite what she was expecting, “How bad is he? Jake wouldn’t talk about it much.”

Judy reflected briefly on how protective Precinct One’s wolves were of Nick, an honorary member of their unofficial wolf pack. Chalking it down to similar species and background, she shrugged, “He’s been worse. It’s only a broken leg.”

“But?” Something in her tone must have informed the young wolf, she was always amazed how perceptive Fangmeyer truly was. He had this aura of a pup who’d never grown up, or never wanted to.

She nodded, admitting the thoughts she’d entertained all afternoon. “But… there’s something about this one. He’s really shaken up.”

“You’re thinking it’s more psychological than physical?” It was times like this, when Fangmeyer used multi-syllable words to say something perceptive , that Judy remembered that he’d gone through the same training she had had. That he wasn’t just the love child of the Precint’s two most senior officers, constantly following mommy officer Francine Trunkaby and daddy officer Jacob Wolford like an over awed pup on ‘bring your cub to work’ day. Part of that last mental image probably arose from Chief Bogo’s constant predilection to assign the wolf to one of those two officers.

She sighed, “Yeah, I do.”

In response he mumbled something under his breath. Judy’s eyes were immediately drawn to his paws as he pocketed something he’d been holding hastily, something silver and round. She recognised it clearly from her childhood days, always on alert for her brothers’ practical jokes. A hand buzzer.

Her eyes flared wide and she punched him in the leg, “You were going to prank him? Seriously?”

Caught like a deer in the headlights, Fangmeyer paused a moment before responding. Eventually he managed a cheesy smile in a failed attempt to look apologetic. “Sure, it seems like a bad idea _now_.”

Rolling her eyes, she hit him again. “You were going to prank him? Right after he almost _died_?”

His newest attempt to look apologetic was even worse. Desperately, he held up his hands like he had had no choice, “It’s the one time he wouldn’t be expecting it.”

“Oh sweet cheese and crackers!” Judy exclaimed. She honestly didn’t know where to begin with that statement. She began to shuffle past on her way out, but turned back around, a warning finger pointed at his face.

“If you do anything to him whilst I’m gone, I swear I will find you and hunt you down, and not even Francine will be able to save you.”

His smile didn’t dim in the slightest. If anything he looked enraptured at the furious display Judy put on, and she swore the words ‘cute’ fluttered around that empty skull of his. Absently he barked out a playful, “Yes, ma’am.”

As she was storming out, she hesitated, and then threw back one last warning.

 “And don’t even _think_ about drawing on his face when he’s asleep, Fang.”

Watching her leave, the white wolf’s confident face faltered minutely. His paw came down to press against his _other_ side pocket, where his permanent markers had been hidden from view. He looked up again to see that she was gone, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Mentally he made a note to ask Nick if the bunny had any super powers, like X-ray vision or mind reading.  Because, honestly, sometimes she was actually scary.

 

* * *

 

At exactly nine o’clock the next morning Judy knocked on the tall imposing doors, the letters ‘CHIEF BOGO’ hanging squarely in the middle of its frosted glass window. Three solid taps from her grey knuckles, and the voice inside bade her entrance.

Chief Bogo was a hulking figure even when sitting behind his desk. With broad shoulders built for the yoke of leadership and a trim waist testifying his ability to chase down a subject, it was no wonder the Cape buffalo made Chief of Police.

The Chief gestured to one of the opposite seats for Judy to sit, not bothering with an introduction. Judy would say he looked pissed, but then he always looked pissed. But today he held up a hoof for silence, choosing his words carefully.

“Every fucking time,” came the deep bass rumble.

Judy blinked, taken back by the Chief’s swearing, “I’m sorry, sir, what?”

Chief Bogo just rubbed the dark flesh under his tired eyes, “Every time some paperwork nightmare find its way onto my desk, either you or Wilde or both have something to do with it.”

Judy’s eyes widened, as the Chief had a point. First there had been the Bellwether fiasco, which had almost destroyed the city with her sloppy handling of the situation. Then there had been the time Nick infiltrated a street racing ring without really telling the Chief. Then there was that _other_ time Nick went AWOL in the Oliver Thumper case and subsequently almost got beaten to death. Judy hadn’t exactly been a saint in that one either, and she had been a first-hand witness to the paperwork avalanche that followed.

The absolute worst thing so far had definitely been the time Nick had bought Clawhauser a Segway. It had been an apology for some slight the fox did to the chubby cheetah and had seemed harmless enough. It had even improved the cat’s efficiency. Overall it had been a rather good idea. That is, until Nick and the rest of the wolves had decided to make an obstacle course for the suddenly competitive cheetah, full of ramps and jumps, on the roof of the building.

The long story short is that they had to make a very embarrassing call to the Zootopia Fire Department about a cat stuck up a tree: ‘Yes, I know this sounds like a prank, but he really is stuck up a tree.’ ‘How did he get up there? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’ ‘You’re going to need something considerably more load bearing than a cherry picker, buddy.’

Come to think of it, the chief might have had a point.

“Ermmm,” Judy said meekly.

But Bogo wasn’t done. “Can’t Wilde go three months without ending up in the hospital or some other life threatening situation? Is that too much for me to ask?”

Judy hummed nervously, not knowing what answer the Chief was looking for. She decided it was probably rhetorical.

Calming himself, the Chief rubbed his eyes with a heavy sigh. His tone was conversational, but Judy sensed a point coming. “Do you know why I assigned you this case, Hopps?” The similarity to the conversation of the previous day piqued Judy’s curiosity, “Why _I didn’t_ assign you two to chase the Night Howler shooter?”

Judy worked a kink out of her neck with a rolling motion in order to rid herself of nervous energy. Despite what she had told Nick, she did wonder as well, “No, sir.”

“I assigned it to you because it was a cake walk, Hopps. After you and Wilde got yourselves kidnapped last time, I thought you both needed a breather from any newsworthy cases. So I said to myself, ‘what can I do to keep them out of trouble’, and give my wrist a rest from carpal tunnel syndrome?”

He mimed leafing through several files before sounding a silent exclamation. Exultantly he held up his invisible prize in front of him, “Ah, here’s something so easy, and so safe, that there’s no way they can fuck it up, I said to myself. And you know what happened next, Officer Hopps?”

Judy knew what he wanted her to say, but she felt it wasn’t fair.  “With all due respect, sir, most vandalism cases don’t turn into attempted vehicular homicides—“

“Hopps?” The towering buffalo cut in.

 “We fucked it up?” Judy winced, as she repeated the four letter word.

“You fucked it up.” The Chief agreed stoically, his eyes still boring into her.

He waited for her to soak it in, before sliding a real file in front of himself. Opening the deep red coloured folder, he put on his reading glasses, “Which leaves me with a bit of a dilemma.”

Judy didn’t like where this was going. “Sir?”

“Last time you and Officer Wilde fucked a case up, I barely had time to blink before you two were back in my precinct like two over eager kits wanting to work. Despite Wilde’s severe injuries.”

Judy cleared her throat, “I remember, sir, you assigned us both to a month of paperwork duty.”

“I assigned _Wilde_ to a month of paperwork duty. You simply refused to leave his side throughout the duration of his punishment.”

“But it wasn’t fair he did it alone, sir. I dated a suspect in an ongoing investigation, so it was only fitting that I be punished as well.” Judy explained, even though the excuse sounded somewhat weak. Even Nick had raised an eyebrow at her about that one, muttering under his breath about masochist bunnies.

“You _had dinner_ with a person of interest in a case you thought was closed.” Bogo pointed out patiently and a little wearily.  After all, they’d had this conversation before. “I don’t care what you do in your personal life, rabbit, and frankly, I’d rather not know. Officer Wilde, however, continued to investigate a case after he had been ordered to leave it alone. It was an act of insubordination, even if he felt justified in doing so.  Make no mistake, Hopps. Wilde knew what he was doing; _I_ knew what he was doing.”

She had often wondered about that over the past several weeks.  While she hadn’t thought about it much at the time (something to do with the volcanic swelling of rage she felt), she now wondered how much the buffalo knew about Nick’s actions during the Sahara Square case, and how much input he had in it.  .

Bogo’s voice interrupted her thoughts.  “But Officer Wilde chose to do what he thought was the right thing, and accept the consequences. That’s the best we can do sometimes.” The buffalo met her gaze for a moment over his glasses, ensuring she understood his words.

Then he turned back to his file, “But we’re getting off topic.  The point here is that now I need to decide what to do with _you_ , Officer Hopps.”

Judy’s ears snapped up in confusion, “Sir? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I know you think I’m oblivious to the officers under my charge,” he said, “that I don’t care what happens to them, and by association, you.”

“Sir, I never...” Judy felt scandalised. Sure she had entertained the thought that Chief Bogo could be a little friendlier, but she’d never said it to anyone’s face.

He held up his hoof once more to silence her, “It’s true, I’m not an affectionate superior. I won’t go around tying your shoelaces and reminding you to wash behind your ears. I’m your Chief, not your mother. And you are police officers of the first precinct, where our ears are perpetually tuned to the beating heart of this city. We have to be better than the rest.

“But you are _my_ officers, and I do care about your well being.” He looked one last time at the file before him, before snapping it closed. Twisting it around he handed it across to the rabbit officer, “Which is why I’m placing you and Wilde on two weeks paid leave.”

Judy froze with her paw an inch away from the file. It sounded an awful lot like a suspension. She narrowed her eyes.  “What are you saying, sir?”

“I thought the words were perfectly clear.”  The buffalo took the glasses back off his face again, rubbing the indents they left on his muzzle, “I talked with Wilde’s doctors.  They won’t let him return to work on that leg for at least a fortnight. Even desk work. You have your own share of days off adding up, Hopps, and I’m suggesting you take them now.”

Judy reluctantly took the case file, its maroon cover glinting in the artificial light. She wanted to argue, to protest, but something told her it wasn’t so much a suggestion as an order. Not bothering to hide the bitterness from her voice she replied, “I see.”

He raised an eyebrow at her; clearly he didn’t believe her, before he shrugged. “Good. I don’t want to see a hair of either of you two for the next two weeks. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Judy could sense a dismissal coming, and absently gestured to the closed file in front of her, “What’s this, sir?”

“It’s the case file for the graffiti artist- Mr. Stripes. I thought a copy might sate your curiosity.”

She didn’t bother opening it just yet, “Do we know who the hit and run driver is? Why they tried to hit him?”

Bogo shook his head, “Unless you have any more details besides what you told Officer Wolford, it doesn’t look like we’ll have much luck.”

She calmly recited the few details she’d caught as a speeding car raced towards her best friend, “Light blue, medium sized, sedan, maybe a late 80s model. Got nothing else beyond that,” She was grateful the Chief didn’t badger her for a license plate number; she had been too preoccupied at the time to notice. Biting her lip, a thought struck her, “What about the suspect?  Could we question him maybe?”

The Chief gave her an odd look, his eyes a mix of apology and irritation. Slowly he replied, “Not an option, I’m afraid.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he paused, seeming to regret the words, “he’s no longer in custody, Hopps. We released him.”

Everything seemed to stand still in that moment, like the pause before a wave crashed over you. When the crash finally came it seemed to silence the whole world. Vaguely Judy heard Bogo explaining how the young zebra’s father, a wealthy and influential friend of the new mayor, had bailed him out. She knew how it worked, and how minor offenders could be bought their freedom with a fine and a promise to show up in court in so many months. It had been that way for a long while.

But it still felt wrong. She nodded along to what the Chief of police was saying, but didn’t hear the words. She only recognised when he dismissed her by the expectant look in his eyes, and she hurried to stand up and leave the now claustrophobic office. She took in all these details but barely registered them as she focused all her attention on staying under the surf, knowing that once she was floated back above it to reality, she’d have to face the consequence of Martin Stripes’s release. Somehow drowning seemed the better alternative to her next task.

Despite her unbreakable will, her body would eventually betray her at some point and pull her back out of the water to reality and its life-giving oxygen. This finally happened as she walked out of the precinct building into the blinding glare of the sun. All at once the full impact of the situation hit her. Martin Stripes was free, and Nick was hospitalised.  And now Judy would have to go to the hospital and inform him that the zebra he had almost died putting away, was released without an ounce of ceremony by the ZPD.   Such a big price her partner had paid, and all for nothing.

After all the fox had been through, she didn’t want to see his face when she told him.

 

* * *

 

Judy had overcome her little anxiety attack by the time she reached the hospital. She tried to tell herself she was over reacting, that it wasn’t the end of the world. But a niggling voice at the back of her mind told her that Nick would hate her when he found out that the colt had been released. Hate her for not stopping it.

She arrived at the waiting room just outside the corridor that led to where Nick was staying, and nodded to the nurse behind the desk that she recognised as having been on duty last night. The brown bear in question looked exhausted by her twelve-hour plus shift, and a pang of pity escaped Judy’s chest at the sight. Fortunately someone had been kind enough to bring her a large cup of coffee from across the street, a minor solace in the seemingly endless hell that was a night shift.

Judy spotted a similar cup in Fangmeyer’s paws as he sat in one of the waiting room chairs, and she made the connection. Obviously the wolf had had enough time to get a coffee break. As admiring as it was that he’d looked out for the nurse on duty, it was worrying that he’d left Nick alone.

She gave him a curious look, “Umm, why aren’t you with Nick?”

Fangmeyer looked at her before returning to his previous occupation of glaring across the room at the room’s third occupant. The expression was very much that of a young pup being forced to share the same room as his nemesis. In his purple jersey and track pants, he was the epitome of a teenage delinquent. Eventually he growled, “He’s got a visitor.”

Judy cast a glance at the third mammal, her curiosity piqued by Fangmeyer’s enmity, momentarily forgetting her own troubles. The wolf was staring at a tall zebra in an expensive three piece suit that looked like it cost more than a month of Judy and Fangmeyer’s pay. If the herbivore noticed their staring, he ignored it bluntly as he stood as far away as possible. When he wasn’t checking his silver MOLEX watch and tapping his hooves impatiently, he was holding his head high.

Those actions alone might have made Judy dislike the mammal, but in recent months she’d made it a habit not to judge a book by its cover. She wasn’t so sure Fangmeyer had, though, and queried him conspiratorially, “Who’s the guy, and why do we hate him?”

The corner of Fangmeyer’s muzzle curled in the ghost of a smile at the words, but his voice was matter of fact. Leaning over he whispered, “That guy would be Martin Stripes and -.”

“No he’s not.” Judy interjected automatically, “I arrested Martin Stripes yesterday.”

A brief look of irritation flickered over the wolf before he tugged his lips into a smile, “Aye, you arrested a Martin Stripes. But that over there is also Martin Stripes, the first, to be exact.”

“Oh,” Judy asked, although the enlightenment didn’t make her any less confused. “Then the other is his son?”

The white wolf nodded, “Yep. And the reason _we_ hate _him_ ,” he gave her a smirk with the quote, “is that he owns the second biggest bank in Zootopia, after Horns & Co, of course.”

“We don’t like rich people?” Judy asked.

“We don’t like _these_ rich people,” he corrected. “Zebra National Bank made it’s billions through one exclusive policy, Hopps. Makes their customers feel safer.”

“What policy is that?”  But she thought she knew the answer.

“They don’t do business with predators,” spat the wolf. His snarl was loud enough that the zebra in question sneered back at them. The nurse in the corner barely managed to keep her face neutral through the hostility thickening the air.   

Judy herself had frozen, taking in the consequences of such a policy. No wonder Fangmeyer was so uncharacteristically furious at the zebra. She gave Fangmeyer a pat on the back.  At some point she’d sided herself with the predators in this city, so she whispered, “Got it Fang. _We_ hate this guy.”

The wolf turned to her before beaming a goofy smile, himself once more. Judy allowed him to stand up before she continued, “I guess your watch has ended, so you can go home and enjoy the rest of your day.  Go chase a ball or something.”

“Ha! Are you kidding me? I’m going to catch a few hours sleep before I’ve got the night shift again tonight.” Judy felt a pang of sympathy but the wolf laughed her away. It always struck her as shocking that the other ZPD officers pulled just as long shifts as she did.

“I’ll trade you. Bogo’s benched me for two weeks straight.”

“Really? Shit, no way.” Fangmeyer skulled the rest of his coffee, “Imagine what I could do with a whole fortnight off, Hopps. The possibilities are endless.”

Judy laughed at his starstruck gaze, “Easy there boy, don’t start howling on me.”

In response, Fangmeyer gave her a playful punch to the shoulder, perfectly balancing the strength of it so that it did nothing more than nudge her. Emboldened by the camaraderie, Judy asked the question that had been niggling at her thoughts, “So why is moneybags here anyway?”

One hypothesis tugged at the back of her mind, but she shrugged it off. Either way Fangmeyer looked at her like it was obvious. He jerked his head towards the corridor leading to Nick’s room. “His kid, the graffiti genius, is in there with Nick Wilde.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the latest chapter, I look forward to hearing your reviews and opinions.  
> Also, besides the usual questions and answers, I'd like to see what you guys want to see visited in this series? IE. people, places or other. I've got a fairly long plan already, but there's room for some oneshots I think.  
> TTFN


	3. Black and White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay people, next chapter is up and running on all fours. It's a little shorter than expected but it had to happen for nonsensical writer reasons.  
> Also, in case you haven't noticed, the 5 chapters limit thing is kinda going to hell but I'll aim to keep this fic short...ish.  
> Now enjoy!

Ignoring the inquisitive look that the zebra in the waiting room threw at them, Fangmeyer gestured for Judy to follow him down the hall. She made sure to stay a couple steps behind to avoid the wolf’s long sweeping tail, as it moved from side to side rhythmically.

Stopping in front of Nick’s door, Fangmeyer gave Judy a cheeky smile before rapping his white knuckles on the wooden surface. Lazily, as though he couldn’t care otherwise, he called, “Hey Red, are you still alive and kicking?”

Judy heard conversation hush in the room before Nick yelled back, “No! What do you want?”

Nick was inside the room alone and incapacitated, with the very perpetrator that they put away the night before, and he was making fricking jokes.  Despite the unnerving situation, she bit down a smile at his childish reply.

“Got another visitor for you,” the wolf said, as he turned the door knob and let physics do the rest of the work in swinging the door open. Lazy. Fangmeyer gave Judy an amused expression before continuing. “It’s some little ankle-biter, this time. All short and cute with big long ears and a bad attitude. Sound familiar?”

Inside, Nick was still in his hospital bed, his blue cast raised up like a cannon firing a salute. But he had manoeuvred himself as close to upright as his pelvis would allow, and his eyes brightened as Judy appeared in the doorway. Judy fought down her own swell of emotion at the reaction, settling for just a relaxed smile.  For one thing, she wasn’t going to give Fangmeyer any more ammunition against her, and there was also the matter of the criminal also occupying the room.

Nick, always one to ruin a good moment, played along with Fangmeyer and threw his arms out after a second, “Why it must be Finnick!”

“Oh har har”. Judy gave him an unimpressed look before she struck out with a balled grey fist, not even needing to see her mark to land a solid hit in Fangmeyer’s leg. The white wolf rubbed his track pants furiously.

“Ow!” he pouted, “What was that for, Hopps?”

Judy gestured at Nick and his broken limb, “I can’t get him back for that, but I can get you.”

“See! This is what I meant about the bad attitude,” Fangmeyer grumbled, gesturing with his huge paws.

“Oh shut up, you big baby,” Judy replied easily. Without missing a beat she pacified, “Look at the bright side-- you can go home now.”

It took a second or two before the wolf registered the dismissal, and he quickly made a toothy smile to accompany his mocking salute. Somehow he could make even a sign of respect look rebellious and insulting. “You’re absolutely right, Hopps.”

Making a show of it, he paraded around the room, stopping at each individual mammal to give a humorous farewell, starting with the fox in the hospital bed. “See you later Wilde, no don’t get up. I’ll walk myself out.”

Then he turned to Judy, and threw a thumb in the direction of her partner, “Hopps, have fun with peg-leg over there.”

Lastly, he turned to the third occupant in the room, Martin Stripes II. “Nice meeting you kid, but don’t let these two fool you- the bunny’s the vicious one. She has freaky rabbit powers.”

He was met with ‘you too’s’ and nods. Nick even threw in a ‘fuck you’ for good measure before the wolf closed the door after himself. Even with it closed, Judy could still hear his farewell out in the waiting room, “Have a good day Rachel, it was a pleasure.”

Then to whom Judy had no trouble guessing: “Not you though Ass-face, and I’m not saying that because horses and donkeys have the same -- You know what? Never mind. I’m gonna need to shower to get rid of this lingering scent of bigotry you have hanging around you.”

The wolf’s departure left Judy stuck in front of the door, alone with the room’s two other occupants. A mixed blessing. On the one hand she could now, in fact, question the vandal responsible for all this mess, but on the other hand, the vandal in question was a mammal four times her body weight who had no reason to like her, and her trusty partner/bodyguard was disabled and strapped to a bed. 

She closed her eyes, purging these defeatist thoughts from her tired and jittery brain.  After all, she dealt with animals several times her size on a regular basis.  She then took in her surroundings with a fresh perspective. The sun shone brightly through the window, illuminating the zebra colt sitting in the chair. Removed from Tundratown’s frigid temperature, he had shed his hoody, instead opting to wear a pair of ratty jeans and a well-worn t-shirt with the name of some band (‘My Camel-ical Romance’)   splashed across the front.

Then there was his face. Whereas his father’s thick mane was cut short and businesslike, the son’s hair was long and spiked up into a colourfully dyed Mohawk. Judy counted at least four bright colours mixed together like a kaleidoscope. In his left ear was a shiny silver ring, the icing on the cake of this textbook ‘my daddy has money, but I don’t care how I look’ style. As if sensing her stare, Martin Stripes stubbornly avoided her critical gaze.

She was brought out of her analysis by Nick’s voice.

“You know, Carrots, you shouldn’t beat Fang up so much. There’s probably a rule about it in the police manual –workplace harassment or something.” Nick shrugged. “I don’t really know, I only skimmed it.”

Judy walked over to the empty chair next to the zebra, trying to hide her discomfort at the vandal’s presence. She felt on edge. He was a criminal after all, regardless of any bail that had been posted.  “It’s not harassment if they deserve it, like some foxes I could name.”

“Bunnies,” Nick tutted to the colt beside him, “they’re always throwing their weight around.” Then he sat a little straighter, “But where are my manners? Kid, meet the ZPD’s very esteemed Officer Toot-toot, Officer meet...”

“Martin Stripes, we’ve met.” Judy grudgingly extended a paw to the young zebra in greeting, hiding her discomfort at his presence with open hostility at Nick’s nickname. He shouldn’t be undermining her in front of a perp, her inner police officer screamed. She sent the fox a scathing look, but his green eyes just sparkled back at her, amused.

Martin swallowed hard, meeting her eyes for the first time as he placed his hoof in Judy’s paw. It allowed her the chance to truly study him, without the distortion of panic or the dim light of a street lamp. He looked like the polar opposite of his father waiting in the hall. In fact, Judy thought with amusement, the only similarity between father and son were the black on white stripes covering every bit of his hide. The zebra could barely maintain eye contact as he replied in a surprisingly meek tone of voice, “Just call me Marty. Martin is my father’s name.”

Mentally she rolled her eyes- that was such a private school thing to say. In reality she continued in a neutral tone, “So what are you doing here, Marty?”

“Oh, um.” The young zebra hesitated, before taking a deep breath. “I just came by to see Officer Wilde, and I...” Marty met Nick’s eyes, and seemed to bolster his courage. “I wanted to thank him, for everything.”

Nick had been watching the conversation actively, but piped up at this. “Marty, how many times do I have to tell you? You don’t need to thank me for anything.”

“But... I froze! If you hadn’t pushed me I-”

“No buts!” Nick said, his face flickering into an immature smile momentarily at his choice of words before quickly subsiding into a stern expression once more. Judy’s eye roll was more than mental this time.  It figured that Nick would be on chummy terms with the guy already. “I mean it.”

The silence that followed seemed to stretch as the graffiti artist looked dejectedly at the cast on Nick’s leg, which Judy only just now realised was covered in drawings and graffiti itself. Her mind instantly went to Fangmeyer and his collection of markers. She could already hear him snarking back, “But it’s not the face, Hopps.”

In fact, she didn’t even need to imagine the wolf’s retort. Written in gold ink near Nick’s knee were the words, ‘HA! SUCK IT HOPPS – FANG’. She smirked, thinking of how she’d get him back later whilst her eyes wondered over to the other drawings littering the cast. One was a large cartoon drawing of a fox in a fedora and long trench coat running along the length of the cast, from his ankle to his knee. She didn’t have to ask to know that it was meant to be Nick’s alter ego; Nick Tracy. But as much as she chagrined at the subject (she’d specifically told everyone not to encourage the ‘Nick Tracy’ thing), she had to admire the neat strong lines and outlandish appeal.

Eager for something to diffuse the vandal’s sob story, she gestured towards the doodle and surrounding comments.  “Did Fangmeyer do all that?”

“Not all of it. How do you like the picture, pretty good huh?” Nick beamed smugly, before nudging the colt with a paw, “All thanks to this kid.”

Judy allowed genuine surprise to show on her face, it was good work for a simple graffiti artist. But then she’d seen what the colt could do with a can of spray paint, so it wasn’t too surprising. Playing along with Nick’s insistence she told the zebra, “It’s pretty good. One problem with it though.”

Marty’s head snapped up, suddenly attentive now that they were talking art. “And what’s that?”

“You’re going to give Officer Wilde here an even bigger head.”

That actually earned a muffled laugh from the zebra, as Nick adopted a scandalized look. Eventually he scoffed in his most cultured accent, “Don’t listen to her, Marty, she just doesn’t appreciate true art.”

That finally allowed a solid chuckle to escape the graffiti artist, and Nick shot her a satisfied look. Judy returned her own tight-lipped smile too, but her thoughts were drawn to the one question drumming through her skull all of the previous night. Now back here, with the answers sitting right next to her, curiosity and a need for closure were practically driving needles into her brain every second she held off asking.

But the kid was more relaxed now; it would be the perfect time to ask.

“Hey Marty,” she started, her voice sweet in that tone that utilised her rabbit charm to the fullest. It was the same tone she used when manipulating suspects into coughing up evidence. At the corner of her eye, she saw Nick’s ears perk up at the sound in recognition, and he glanced at her. He’d experienced it firsthand, after all.

The kid looked up, a smile still on his features, oblivious to the manipulation. Go figure, Judy thought. The son of a billionaire banker, he’d probably had everything handed to him on a gilded platter. Never thought to suspect a dumb bunny of being anything other than accommodating, “Yes, Officer?”

Judy clasped her paws together tightly, a steadfast motion to keep her course despite the sensitive topic, “What do you remember anything about the car that hit Wilde?”

The smile flickered, but Marty answered regardless. “Not a lot, Officer, it all seemed to happen so fast. I just remember the colour blue, to be honest.”

Judy momentarily thought of the irony that a self-proclaimed artist only noticed the colour, but kept her lips still. Rich kids and their cars; they had a talent for remembering everything down to the horsepower of every individual model. Yet apparently she’d stumbled upon the only one who didn’t. She pressed further, “Come on Marty, this is serious. Anything you can remember is gonna be important, and you were looking straight at it.”

“I swear, that’s all I know.”

A part of her insisted she keep pressing, but instead she asked woodenly, “What about the driver then?”

Gone was all pretence of an indulgent smile on the zebra’s face. Instead was a look of confusion, “I’m sorry, what?”

“The mammal tried to _kill_ you; you’ve got to have some idea of who they are.”

“Carrots,” in her peripheral vision she saw Nick scowl, but put it down to a touchy subject. She still hadn’t gotten around to asking about the fox’s uncharacteristic vulnerability in the ambulance, but that was next on the agenda. She kept her eyes trained on Martin Stripes Jnr and didn’t look away, even as the colt let out a shuddering breath.

He sounded genuinely upset, “I have absolutely no idea. I mean all the buildings I spray painted have been empty. I get along with everyone at school. I... I just don’t know.”

“What about your father?” Judy changed tack, “surely he has some enemies.”

The young herbivore held up his hooves carelessly, “I really don’t know.”

“Don’t give me that!” Judy finally snapped, her irritation at the lack of pulling anything useful from this kid getting the better of her. An equally loud voice answered her back.

“Hopps!” she turned her head to see Nick glaring at her, his eyebrows low and hard with emotion. “What the actual fuck?” His unexpected tone gave her enough pause to stop, and she took a deep breath, trying to take a fresh look at the situation.

Marty was almost cowering away from her, forgetting his extra three foot advantage over her. Somehow she hadn’t noticed that before, that during this whole time his emotions had been settling deeper and deeper into fear. But she hadn’t been able to see the trees for the forest; her mind had been filled with the image of a spoilt delinquent, getting his kicks knowing his daddy would be there to bail him out. After what Fangmeyer had revealed in the lobby, she’d half-anticipated that old idiom, like father like son.

She’d thought she had developed more control over leaping forward emotionally, making more of an effort to think things through the extra second, before carelessly blurting things out. Marty Stripes had made the effort to be here. Not to harass or tease the officer that was injured trying to arrest him, but to apologise. Maybe the kid wasn’t so bad after all.

“Cheese and crackers,” Judy breathed, the guilt settling in her stomach. She’d recently been privy to Nathan Lowell interviewing an eye witness to a robbery, and had cringed at the black wolf’s interrogation of an innocent civilian. Labelling it as just Nate’s shitty personality, she’d smugly remarked to herself how she’d never be that bad. But here she was, doing the same damn thing. She pulled her already drooping ears in front of her face methodically before turning to the zebra colt with the most apologetic voice she could muster, “Sorry. Cop habit. I’m just on edge after last night.”

The young zebra looked momentarily relieved and then suspicious at Judy’s sudden change of tack. She couldn’t say she blamed him; she’d just been more bi-polar than an Arctic bear discovering his (her?) sexual identity.

The colt let out another shuddering breath, “No, no it’s fine. I should get going, my dad’s probably waiting.”

“Yeah, sure buddy,” Nick grinned from where he was grounded on the thin hospital mattress, “Don’t be a stranger though, you have my card.”

“Course Officer Wilde. Officer Hopps, it was... good to talk to you again.”

Judy rose with the young colt, wishing to make amends for her previous behaviour, “I’ll walk you out.”

The young teen seemed to hesitate before giving a shrug. Judy chose to take it as consent and followed him out the door, keeping pace with his longer legs.

Clearing her throat, she repeated, “I really am sorry, Marty, I didn’t mean to come off as a jerk back there.”

Another shrug, “I get it. You’re worried about Wilde.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Judy felt kind of guilty now, for scaring the kid so. Eager to diffuse the awkward silence, she asked him a question that had been lingering since the car crash, “Marty, sorry if it sounds dumb to ask but... how did Nick catch you?”

The zebra colt looked a mixture of embarrassed and frustrated. His fingered hooves came down to fuss with his shirt, “As I said yesterday he cheated... sort of.”

“Sort of?” she was genuinely curious about her partner’s technique now.

The zebra nodded, “Yeah, well at first I left him in the dust, you know. He’s only got those short little fox legs, and if there’s one thing us zebras know how to do, its run. I was like twenty feet in front of him, when I heard someone call out behind me, and turned to look over my shoulder, a mistake since he... he threw a snowball at me.”

She must have misheard,.“A snowball?”

“Yeah, plastered me right in the face. And then I...” the colt explained, “I tripped.”

Suddenly Judy could envision the scene: the longer-legged mammal dashing ahead down the alleyway, while the thirty-two year old police officer casually bent down to pick up some snow, packing it calmly it with red paws whilst keeping a steady pace. Pulling his arm back, sighting on the fleeing mammal, his lips twitching into a snide smile before catapulting his weapon.  Timing the arc perfectly, yelling out at exactly the right moment.  Judy had no idea that foxes could even whistle.

The crook, so sure of his freedom and surprised by the sound, would have taken a look back and gotten a face full of snow in response. Surprised and disorientated, he slipped on the icy pavement, landing spread eagled on the cold ground, too dazed to get up immediately. Meanwhile the sly fox takes his time, laughing all the way up to the fallen graffiti artist, cuffing him there and then. Without even breaking a sweat.

Judy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her, but quickly tried to cover it up when the disgruntled kid turned to look at her, his equine lips sulking. She quickly held a hand up to stop him, “Sorry, it’s just that it’s not quite what I expected. They definitely don’t teach us  that in the academy.”

Slowly Marty’s lips relaxed into their own smile, and he let out a muffled giggle, “Yeah, I guess they don’t.”

Rather than risk an awkward silence for the rest of the journey, Judy piped up after a moment, “Hey Marty, why do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Vandalise those old buildings, it’s not like you’re in a gang or anything.” Judy supplied, “you’re a billionaire’s son after all.”

The zebra shrugged, but Judy thought she caught a smirk of amusement. Finally he said, “I guess most rich kids don’t go out and get arrested huh? Not for a can of spray paint at least.”

“Not any that I know of.” Judy admitted.

“But then most don’t have to go to jail to get a minute of their parents time,” Marty said, his pace slowing as they came to the waiting room. Judy blinked, her brain struggling to comprehend the statement. In reality it couldn’t. For sure, Judy had shared her parent’s limited amount of attention with hundreds of brothers and sisters, but she’d never felt neglected. Her parents had always found time for her, even with the labour of running the farm.

The thought that a family, so rich they didn’t have to work if they didn’t want to, couldn’t find time for their child was completely alien to her. The fact that the child had to resort to crime to get the attention was even worse. She could have been there all day trying to puzzle that out. But instead she settled for a polite nod of agreement.

“I see.”

Having reached their destination, Marty stopped. Even with his juvenile stature he still towered above her, his Mohawk stretching the distance even further. “Have a good day officer Hopps, and sorry for all the trouble that happened.”

Judy couldn’t pretend not to see the stiffness the zebra colt showed in his father’s presence. The obvious apprehension was even worse than he’d shown during Judy’s questioning. Sympathetically, Judy replied, “You too Marty. Remember what Officer Wilde said and feel free to call us anytime if you remember anything else.”

“Sure,” the teenager said before shambling over to his father. Even then Judy stayed to watch until the striped duo disappeared altogether. The older zebra physically lead the way out, muttering impatiently about time wasted and insufferable wolves, until they were well out of sight. Judy gave the nurse a nod before shuffling back to Nick’s room.

Only once the door had closed behind her, did Judy turn her focus back on the injured fox. He looked better than he had the day before, without pain marring his features. The narrow vulpine snout and perfectly triangular ears were a healthy shade of red, and most importantly, without the quivering of his post car-crash shock. But his eyebrows were still drawn together in thought.

She also noticed that the room also provided more of a sanctum of healing now that the darkness of the night had cleared away. The walls that had looked pale in lamp light now wore a warm yellow. Next to Nick a table had been set up, on which sat a bouquet of brightly coloured balloons and cards. Judy had to question how many people really had been in while she was gone, and opened her mouth to start the conversation.

But Nick spoke first, abruptly, with no warning, “He’s a good kid, Marty, despite the vandalism.”

Judy paused to watch him. His tone could’ve been mistaken for casual, as though discussing the weather, but Judy knew him well enough to catch the edge in his words.

“I never said he wasn’t,” she replied stiffly.

Nick continued on as though she hadn’t said anything, “He came in here this morning to apologise and thank me and to make sure I was all right, like he was a fucking altar boy. It wasn’t just that he was half-scared to death that I’d croak and the rest of the cops would come after him in revenge. He really did it because he was concerned. His own initiative too; his folks didn’t make him do it.”

Judy let the words sink in, trying to discern her partner’s meaning. It seemed like he was aimlessly praising the zebra, and his words were organised to appear surprised. But there was a pointed masquerade behind them, like he was waiting for a question. When it didn’t come he continued with what was beginning to feel like a lecture of some sort.

“In fact his father didn’t even want him to come; used some bullshit excuse about how it’d make him look guilty or something. But Marty came anyway.”

“I get it Nick, he’s a good kid.” She struggled to keep her voice even. As a kitten she’d learnt to deal with patronisation from both her family and anyone else she had told about her lifelong dream to be a police officer. But she didn’t expect it from Nick, and now she found she couldn’t handle it coming from her usually effusively supportive partner.

But Nick’s own voice dripped with annoyance, “No you don’t get it, Carrots.”

A part of Judy told her to calm down, since Nick was stressed and injured and probably didn’t mean anything by his words. She should just let him explain. But the quicker part of her reacted in kind, furious, “What are you trying to say then Nick? ‘I told you so?’ I get it, you were right about him, and I was wrong.”

Nick’s balled his paws into his eyes in frustration, “But that’s just it, Carrots. You’re still fucking wrong! Not about the kid.  About this whole thing!  He’s not the one with enemies, Judy.”

Nick had finished his rant, but Judy couldn’t find the will to get her two cents in. She knew what he was trying to say, and deep down she’d suspected the same thing ever since she heard the roar of a car engine accelerating in the light of a street lamp. But her mind had stubbornly refused to acknowledge the option, and instead set a course that followed the theory that she had found easiest to stomach, even if it involved interrogating a scared little kid. It was Sahara Square all over again, and she visibly deflated at the realisation.

She knew now. But nothing could stop the lips that were already asking, that needed to hear it out loud.  “You’re going to have to spell it out for me, Nick.”

As if the yelling had drained him, Nicholas Piberius Wilde sunk lower into the hospital mattress and spoke his next words softly. “The car wasn’t aiming for him, Judy.” He let out one more deep breath, as if to purge himself off the horrible truth stuck in his throat. “It was aiming for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! As always, thanks to the readers for reading and the betas for beta'ing (it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway). And of course feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to get back to you like always.  
> Sincerely, Awww


	4. Carpe Diem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry (not that sorry) about the late posting. You can thank the two amazing betas for kicking my ass into gear about completing it at all.  
> But in compensation, I offer you 7,000+ new words of plot to sate your appetite.

“Are you sure?” was all she said. Heck,  it was the only thing she felt safe saying after the lengthy silence that followed his words. Nick had said it so casually, like he’d admitted to not getting his paperwork done on time. But Judy-- well,she felt like she was at the DMV talking to Flash the sloth; time seemed to slow to a crawl while his meaning  sank in. 

There had perhaps been only a minute of silence since Nick’s announcement, but to Judy it felt like a year. Both of them still as statues, perched on their respective pieces of furniture and in deep thought. Even Judy Hopps, energetic rabbit that she was, had managed to stay patiently still the whole time, carefully assessing each response that flitted through her mind. 

Her first instinct  was to crack a joke, but she instantly squashed that impulse down. After all, what type of sick twisted individual joked about something like that? Their best friend’s almost death? (Probably the same individual who laughed and taunted their would be murderer and evil plotting overlord in the bowels of a museum, but humour wasn’t fitting when the topic was your  _ friend’s _ attempted murder, not yours).

And that  _ was _ the problem, wasn’t it?

Someone had tried to kill Nick, or maim him at the very least. He’d been singled out like a fox for the hunt. A prize for the driver to brag to his friends about over a pint of golden liquor on a Saturday night.  All of a sudden, she was glad Fangmeyer had taken the time to stand vigil over him in the night, to guard him from a follow up attack.  

It took her a further moment to realize that had been the point the whole time; that Fangmeyer and Chief Bogo had known Nick was the intended target all along, they just hadn’t mentioned it to Judy. She didn’t know whether to be tremendously furious or reluctantly grateful at the realisation. 

Presently, Nick’s ears twitched, but he didn’t look up from where his eyes had been staring a hole into his cast, “No doubt about it.”

She tried again, “What do you remember?”

Nick Wilde gave her a sidelong glance, his lips pursing at her soft tone before he spouted off robotically, “Blue sedan. Late model, maybe early nineties production. Must have been a lightweight class vehicle. First letters of the license plate were HNC, but I didn’t catch the rest.”

Judy paused long enough to memorise all of the details before breathed again.“And what about the driver?”

“Nothing.”

Judy’s grey brow furrowed. “Then how do you know he was after you Nick? There’s no way to be sure.” 

When he turned to look at her, his expression was stony. An eyebrow was raised pointedly, brooking no argument, “I just know, Carrots.” 

“But why?” Judy asked stubbornly, “What reason do they have to kill you?” 

“Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled once more.

Judy stared at him long and hard, trying to peek into that thick fox skull of his by sheer determination. There was no way she was letting this go, not after how fragile he’d been in the ambulance the night before. If there was something she needed to protect him from, she needed the full picture. Her muzzle twitched violently as she asked, “What are you saying? Of course it matters.  Someone can’t just be trying to kill you for no reason.” 

“You want a reason?” he asked her, his eyes spread wide as if inviting an attack. She had no doubt that if his leg wasn’t tied in a raised position he would have stood for emphasis. But he wasn’t angry; instead, he just seemed exhausted of the subject, “I’m a fox, rabbit. I’m a criminal, more than that kid ever will be, a fucking con-artist, we don’t go around making friends and sipping tea. What more reason do you want?” Judy stared at him again, trying to garner a reaction behind his frankly wooden lecture, until Nick sighed and dropped his head, his next words almost a plea: “Just leave it alone Carrots, I’m fine.”

“Ex-con artist.” she corrected stiffly. 

Despite what her partner might tell others, Judy Hopps wasn’t unbreakably stubborn but she  _ did _ continue questioning. Albeit more softly than before, letting her tone make a wordless apology. “Do you think it might’ve been one of your old criminal contracts?”

Resigned, he muttered,“I dunno, could be.” 

“Did you do a lot of business in Tundra Town? Besides freezing your pawpsicles?”

“Tundratown, Sahara Square, Savannah Central, Downtown, the Canal District, Marshlands, the ND, hell even the Straits. I’ve done business everywhere, Carrots” Nick shrugged, his tone carefully neutral, his eyes calculating. Finally he let out a shuddering sigh, “Can’t we just forget about this?” 

“But...” Judy replied instinctively. Nick’s self-proclaimed familiarity with the districts, some of which Judy had never even heard of, was the most information Nick had ever divulged to her about his colourful  past after the Junior Ranger Scouts incident. She found herself innately curious.

“Please? Look, I know you want to find the mammal responsible and be the big hero. But I don’t.” His voice was strained, as close as he could allow himself to begging, and Judy knew that to continue would be to threaten their friendship. “I’d rather just forget the whole thing, okay?”

Reluctantly, she dropped the issue. For now, her stubbornness added silently. “Alright. But they shouldn’t be able to get away with what they did to you, Nick.”

“I’m fine, Judy. Seriously.” H managed a weak smile as recompense, his eyes lingering on her like he was trying to telepathically communicate. 

In reply Judy nodded, agreeing for now. A part of her cursed Chief Bogo for her unofficial exile from the ZPD building. She urgently wanted to search the police database using the details Nick had just coughed up. But the other part of her chided herself, and her own persistence. Before her was a victim, a friend, and she’d continued to bring up the subject despite his protests; just like she’d done with Marty Stripes minutes before. 

She couldn’t help but admire how royally screwed this day was turning out to be. First her two week suspension, next her blatant unsanctioned interrogation of a minor, and finally  her torpedoing  of Nick’s good mood. She would have called that latter achievement  impossible up until a few months ago, but it now seemed to be an effect she was achieving repeatedly with unparalleled success. She really didn’t know what to think.

After a minute of awkward tension, she asked, “So what do we do now?”

Nick looked at her, his bright green eyes studying her like a DNA sample under a forensics microscope. His brow was slightly creased, and he unconsciously pouted in thought. 

Judy could see the moment he came up with an idea, as if a lightbulb had flickered on behind his intelligent eyes. His mouth followed suit, revealing a toothy grin as he scrambled to reach something amidst the clutter of get well gifts tucked away next to the bed.

After a couple of moments of furious searching he took out a pack of markers. The tense conversation from before now forgotten, he held them out, offering her an olive branch in the shape of a pen; a way out of the hole she’d dug herself. “Do you want to sign my cast?”

 

* * *

“Carrots?” Nick stretched the vowels in a whiny plea. Judy could feel him moving on the bed behind her, trying to get a better look at the image she’d just begun to draw on his leg. Her body was positioned so that he couldn’t even get a glimpse, and it was killing the fox not to know. 

Judy smirked; knowing full well what she was doing. “What do you want, Nick?” 

“Come on, Judy, at least tell me what you’re drawing,” he explained righteously, like it was a written law she was offending, instead of his innate inquisitiveness.

“I haven’t drawn anything,  _ yet _ .” She looked up just enough to poke her tongue at him like a six year old kit, and then adopted a shit-eating grin, “Besides, it’s a surprise.” 

“Not fair,” he complained. She suspected part of the reason for all his muttering was to hear his own voice. A laughing voice in her head suggested he was jealous of the attention she was lavishing on his injured leg instead of his jokes. She smiled at the thought but shook it away.

“Just tell me what it is, at least.” 

“Noo-oope.” She sing songed back. 

There was a pause before he complained again, “How do I know you’re not going to draw anything rude? I’m going to be wearing this out in public, fluff. And those markers won't wash off.”

Judy shook her head, but mentally noted the subtle hint; don’t fuck it up, Carrots. “Come on now, what could I possibly draw?”

When she turned to look up at Nick he was giving her a look. He didn’t say anything, he just stared at her like ‘Really?’. Once he was sure she understood, he held up a paw and started counting off his claws, “For starters you could draw a penis, or tits, vaginas, any sexual organ really...” 

Judy blanched at the blithe way he listed off the lewd topics. They hadn’t even crossed her mind, “I wouldn’t draw-.” 

“...a pile of shit, cartoons going at it, gang signs, the prey supremacist symbol, the pred supremacist symbol... I  _ can _ go on here.” 

“Carrot!” she cried desperately, eager to stop the tirade before someone overheard, “I was going to draw a carrot.” 

Nick stopped to look at her for a long moment, his ears perked up and his eyes sharp. Suddenly Judy felt embarrassed, rather than relieved, at his silence. Slowly a smile, softer this time, formed on the fox’s muzzle and he tilted his head to the side. He seemed to be deliberating the choice. “Why?” he asked simply.

Despite herself, Judy found herself blushing, and soon rambling as she rushed to justify the choice, “It’s what brought us together, that stupid carrot pen. And then you call me Carrots all the time and-.” 

“I like it.” He said.

She studied him, searching for any sign of teasing, “Really?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged casually, “I guess not all Carrots are bad. Some are actually quite likeable, once you get used to them.” 

Judy froze, some niggling thought suggested that the words had a deeper meaning. She chose to entertain this particular thought, and a happy warmth spread from her chest up to her cheeks as she beamed. On an impulse she started to move forwards, intending to wrap her paws around her friend’s neck in gratitude.

“Nuh uh! No you don’t!”he was stopped with a single claw held up in front of her, so that it poked her nose when she leant in for the hug. She drew back, her nose wriggling in indignation. “We don’t have time for your cute emotional crap, we’ve got a job to do! Now draw me my carrot, Carrots.” 

He had the look of an impatient kit, and Judy refiled him under the heading ‘actual child’, right alongside Fangmeyer and Nathan Lowell. She snatched up the black marker again and leant over her work. Grumbling under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear, she muttered, “I’ll draw you a carrot all right; I’ll draw you the best darn carrot you’ve ever seen.” 

She heard the fox chuckle behind her, but she was too busy studiously ignoring him. Her pen tip hovered a millimetre away from the hard blue dressing as she mentally planned out her image. A carrot, a nice and simple carrot.

Normally, drawing a carrot should have been easy. She’d grown up on a carrot farm for Christ’s sake. She’d been surrounded by carrots all her life, even had a pen shaped like one for as long as she could remember. If she’d ever dared to doodle in her books at school, that is what she would have drawn. 

Yet, she was pausing for too long. Mustering her courage, she pushed the black tip to her leg shaped canvas, and with relief her hand started to automatically sketch the shape. She couldn’t believe she’d found it momentarily difficult.

But then that might have been due to her companion’s obnoxious commentary.

“Now, now, Carrots,” Nick was saying, “if you’re going to draw a carrot on my leg, I have a request.” 

“Yeah, what?” she asked absently, as the black line continued to outline the vegetable. Each stroke was precise and deliberate.

Oblivious to her lack of attention, Nick continued, “Make it a healthy carrot all right? I don’t want one of those sick pathetic things you get in your microwave packets.”

“Yeah, healthy...” 

“Yeah,” Nick confirmed, “it’s simple. You just have to make it really long and hard...” 

“Yeah, long and... Wait, what?” her ears and eyes  shot up to him. He had a smug smirk on his face, as she finally paid attention to his words. “We’re talking about carrots, right?”

“Well yeah, I’d hate to have a short flaccid carrot now, wouldn’t I?” 

Judy forced herself to meet his eyes, ignoring the heat rising to her face at the phallic description. He was staring at her, waiting for her response, and she could tell that it was all one big game to him. Her voice was decidedly less embarrassed than she felt when she told him, “Shut up fox.”

He didn’t say anything to her weak retort, and she was grateful. Sending one last scathing look his way she returned to her drawing and finished sketching a cartoonish ‘healthy’ carrot as quickly as she could muster. She breathed a sigh of relief as she put the finishing touches on her masterpiece.

She’d made it without another comment from her annoying fox partner, and she felt proud of herself-

“I suppose girth is just as important.” Nick said abruptly.

 

* * *

Judy looked up at the loud slurping sound. It was an hour after the carrot incident, and she had gone out to fetch the two of them lunch from the deli across the street. She’d ordered herself a carrot and lettuce wrap with an ample serving of mayonnaise. For Nick she’d ordered the slightly less healthy (but he assured her it was just as necessary) blueberry pastry and a smoothie that the business had cheerfully named  ‘berry blast’.

The smoothie which he was now sucking dry as she tried to eat her lunch in peace. 

He looked up finally to find her staring at him. He shrugged defensively as he asked, “What?”

“If you love that smoothie so much, why don’t you marry it?” 

“Oh this? It’s just so much better than the food they gave me this morning. Personally I think Fangmeyer specifically asked for something that tasted like cardboard. But this; this is  _ so _ good.” he slurped the drink one last time before throwing it across the room at the little bin by the door. Whether it was luck or skill that landed it in, Nick’s smile was smug either way. “Besides, Carrots, jealousy doesn’t suit you.” 

Judy smiled back, “Ha, ha, Nick, laugh it up whilst you’ve still got the ‘invalid’ card.” 

“Sure will.” he remarked amiably, and Judy went back to finishing her own meal. 

Fortunately, he let her do so silently. Unfortunately, this left her brain with too much time to think and her curiosity too much room to fester. Her mind kept straying to thoughts of a mysterious car on a lamplit street.

She’d agreed not to continue her line of questioning, but it was a lot easier said than done. Her energetic work ethic demanded that she crack the case they’d already begun, but she reigned in the line of thought. She made one last ditch effort to stave off the question threatening to burst from her lips, “What did the doctors say?”

It was a normal thing to ask in a hospital, right? Much less controversial than asking why someone wanted you dead. But then Judy had already blurted that question within five minutes of entering the room. She could only climb from there, she hoped. 

Nick, oblivious to her conflicted state or just ignoring it, answered absently, “The Doc says they’ll release me this afternoon. Won’t let me go back to work for two weeks though, can you believe that?”

Judy huffed a dry laugh, “Yeah, I certainly think I can. Bogo’s doing the same to me.” 

“Shit, really?” Nick asked with genuine surprise.

“Yeah,” Judy said, “he thinks I’ll spend all my time daydreaming about not-so-street-wise foxes if I don’t take some time off.”

“Now that you mention it, that does sound like something you would do, Carrots. I am practically the only reason you get up in the morning.” 

“Ha ha, look at you, all full of yourself. I’ll go tell the doctors you’ve made a full recovery.” 

“Ouch,” he cooed as he laid a paw across his chest mockingly. “But seriously don’t get them yet; I’m trying to convince them to let me take a wheelchair with me.”

“Do I have to remind you of what happened with the Segway, Slick?”

“No.” He had the decency to appear humbled, and Judy let out a laugh at the look upon his face. Just like that, the question was behind her, sunny skies ahead.

 

* * *

Nick Wilde tried to play it cool, but Judy noticed him fidget. He was going stir crazy. Ironically for a nocturnal mammal, he hated being in bed all day. Instead he fidgeted with his gown, told crappy jokes (What do you call a rhinoceros with three horns?) and challenged Judy to a variety of card games. All of which he cheated during.

So when the door opened and Finnick walked in, he all but leapt out of the bed, until he remembered he was tethered to it. Instead he threw his arms out with a delighted, “FINNICK!”

The fennec fox, dressed in a bowling shirt and pants, and wearing sunglasses despite being indoors, looked unamused by the antics. He gestured to the blue cast strung up in the air, “So you’re injured yet again.” 

Nick rolled his eyes, “What gave it away, genius? The fact that we are in a hospital, or my cool new fashion accessory?”

Finnick pondered it for a moment before answering, “Now I don’t want to point out the obvious, but since you joined the other side, you keep getting injured. Coincidence? I think not.”

Nick shrugged, “I finally have medical to cover all the stunts I pull.” 

Heedless, Finnick waved the answer away. “Or maybe you should stop being a cop and come back to the good life?” 

“Watch it, little toot-toot, or we’ll send you to bed without supper,” Judy piped up warningly from her seat besides Nick’s bed.

Finnick turned to her as though he hadn’t seen her yet and spread his arms wide as he approached, “Well if it isn’t my favourite cop on the force, how’ve you been, bunny?”

“Good. What about you, my favourite crook on the streets?” Judy said, as she jumped down and hugged him in hello. Finnick only came up to her waist, but she didn’t bend down to correct the height difference. That was one thing the little fox’s ego wouldn’t allow.

The little fox shrugged noncommittally, but then he’d always been a little secretive of his private life. Especially given Judy’s occupation, he didn’t want to force her to choose between friends and work. She was silently grateful.

Nick made a sputtering sound from the bed, and they both turned to look at the indignant expression on the fox’s face. He pointed at the smaller vulpine, “I thought I was your favourite cop. What gives shorty?”

Finnick rolled his eyes and pointed at Judy, “Sorry man, but she’s just better.” 

“And you,” Nick turned a pouting face on Judy, “I thought I was your favourite crook?” 

Judy held her paws up in a helpless gesture, “You’re not a crook anymore Nick.” 

“Fine.” He crossed his arms in a petulant display, “OK, I see how it is. I can really feel the love in here today. Finnick, you ready to go?” 

Judy’s smile at the fox’s antics fell abruptly as she asked, “Go? What do you mean ‘ready to go’?” 

Finnick quirked an eyebrow up at her, before turning to his friend, “You didn’t tell her?” 

“It didn’t come up.” Nick explained evasively, before turning to Judy. “I’m going to stay with Finnick while my leg heals up.” 

His words were matter-of-fact,  but his green eyes clung to Judy, awaiting her reaction. She wasn’t quite sure herself what that would be. Somewhere along the way she’d just naturally assumed she would be taking care of the red fox, had even looked forward to it. Now that the option was taken away she felt a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance flurry in her chest.

But then it’s not like she was surprised. The last time Nick had been injured, during the Thumper case, he’d disappeared for days before returning in time to work- excusing his absence as catching up with ‘some people’. She’d never discovered exactly what that meant though.

She was broken from her musings when Nick added, “Unless you’ve got a better idea, Carrots?”

“Actually,” Judy piped up eagerly, “I was thinking that you could stay with me. It’ll probably be a lot more therapeutic than sleeping in a van.” 

She paused a moment before adding, “No offense, Finnick.”

The Fennec fox shrugged, a smile on his vulpine lips, “Nah, none taken, rabbit.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Carrots,” Nick said, scratching his neck anxiously.

“Why not?” Judy asked a second before Finnick spoke.

“Yeah, why not?” the little fox echoed.

“Wait a second,” Nick squinted at his old partner in crime with distaste, “you’re agreeing with her?”

“And you’re not?” Finnick raised an eyebrow. His body language, all relaxed shoulders and bored eyes, was that of someone who found their opponent unworthy of their full effort,. Judy felt like a fly in the wall, watching the two arguing back and forth. 

Nick seemed equally sure of himself, “Of course! She’s got a shoebox for an apartment Finn. Where am I going to sleep? In bed with her?” 

Judy fought to keep a straight face against the decidedly adult scenes that sprang to mind at the words. An even harder fight was against the blush threatening to climb to her cheeks. When she finally overcame the two she looked up and...

Finnick and Nick were both staring at her expectantly. She had no hope against the fresh wave of heat that rose to her face. With a start she realised something had been said, and they were waiting for an answer. 

“I bought a couch,” she supplied, hoping that was sufficient answer to draw the attention away from her once more. 

It obtained mixed results. Nick stared at her a moment longer, but Finnick nodded stoically before repeating, “She’s got a couch.”

“But I’m a fox.” Nick sputtered, and Judy tried not to get frustrated by his weak excuses. Couldn’t he just say he didn’t want to stay with her if the idea was so disagreeable?

Meanwhile, Finnick nodded once more, “That you are.” 

“She’s a bunny.” 

“That she is.” Finnick chuckled after a moment, “You are on a roll today Nicky, no wonder you chose to be a cop.  You sure you didn’t get a head injury?” 

Nick gave an aggravated groan before supplying, “She lives in a prey building.” 

A beat of silence, before Finnick admitted, “That actually might be a problem.” 

“What’s a prey building?” Judy asked. She’d never heard the word before, but she could guess its meaning. Idly she hoped she was wrong, but her friend’s reactions to the word all but confirmed her suspicions. 

“Sweetheart,” Finnick asked pleasantly, like he was talking to a skittish kit, “how many animals are in your building?”

She answered honestly, “I don’t know, maybe seventy or more.” 

“And how many of them are predators?” 

Judy thought about it. Then thought about it some more. She couldn’t recall a single predator living in her apartment complex, but she was loathe to admit it. Her silence, and her slowly descending ears, seemed to be all the answer they needed, because Nick sighed, “ _ That’s _ a prey building, Carrots. No preds allowed.” 

Finnick smiled apologetically at her-- he’d always seemed more gentle with her than Nick, and Judy hung her head for a moment. Then she bobbed up again, ears springing to attention. She gestured at the broken leg wrapped up in blue. “Well, it’s not like you’re going to be running around the building gobbling up innocent prey on that thing.” 

Nick laughed at that, shaking his head slowly, “But what if you get caught? Your neighbours aren’t going to like a predator like myself living with you.” 

“First of all, you’re not living with me  _ yet _ . You’re just visiting.” She crossed her arms in front of herself in a show of rebellion, “and secondly, what’s the worst they can do? I’m going to be moving out soon anyway. And between you and me, if you ate some of my neighbors you’d be doing us all a favor

Finnick burst out with laughter, “Never thought I’d see the day when officer toot-toot breaks the rules unnecessarily.” He smiled encouragingly at her. 

But Nick was still on the fence, “I don’t know Carrots, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“It’s the least I can do.” She blurted before she could stop the words. She knew the question was coming before it was even asked.

Nick’s eyes narrowed.“How so?” 

Inwardly, Judy groaned. It was a topic that they didn’t like visiting, even months after the events. Hesitantly she said, “I still owe you one for the Thumper and Cowley...situation.. I’m not going to let you sleep in a van whilst recovering from… well, this.”  She glanced at Finnick, uncertain how much he knew about the whole situation.

Nick was staring at her, lost in thought. It was more terrifying than it needed to be. She would’ve honestly been happier with a simple yes or no. She still didn’t know his true thoughts about that case; somehow both had managed to avoid the topic. But Nick Wilde had always played his cards close to his chest.

“Well,” Finnick said as he tried to find a more comfortable position in the stiff hospital chair with his paws dangling a foot or more off above the ground, “looks like it’s all decided then.” 

“What?” Nick broke from his musings to stare at the diminutive little fox, “It isn’t that simple, Finn.” 

And Judy looked back to Finnick, caught up in the verbal tennis match before her and pointedly ignoring her own thoughts on the matter. Today still had a chance to be a good day, she hoped, and besides, Finnick was championing her cause. The small fox languidly yawned before responding to the larger red-furred mammal.

“Look Nick,” he gave him a pointed look, “the way I see it, you’re going to be living with her anyway soon enough. Don’t you think it might pay to have a trial run first?”

Judy blinked, surprised yet not surprised that Finn know about their future plans, “Trial run?”

“Yeah, it’s practice, to see if you can live together successfully without one of you ending up in prison on a murder charge.” 

“Exaggerate much?” Nick asked.

Finnick’s tone was serious, “No. On the bright side, if she can survive two weeks with your whiny ass bitching about your bum leg, then you two should be good to go on the whole living together schtick.” 

Judy nodded, it made sense.  If they could survive two weeks alone in the cramped confines of her one room shoebox apartment, than they could trust themselves to live together in a proper apartment. It also brightened her mood considerably, being able to look upon the next two weeks of suspension as a challenge instead of a punishment.

Nick however just sighed long and huskily, before saying in a defeated tone, “You’re not going to let me win, either of you?”

The two answered in sync, “Nope.”

“Fine!” Nick grumbled and held up a finger in warning, “On one condition.” 

“Name it.” Judy said with a smirk.

Nick Wilde pointed the red-furred digit at her, “You are going to leave the car crash alone.” 

Judy paused, it was like he’d been reading her mind, aware of the issue hovering  at the corner of her brain all day. She wasn’t quite sure she could actually stave off the curiousity. But she wasn’t going to say it out loud, instead she nodded, her face carefully innocent. “Crash? What car crash?” 

“Then it’s settled!” Finnick clapped his hands together, and Judy couldn’t help but be reminded of Mr. Big sitting in an oversized chair. The little fox got up to leave, but Nick held a hand out excitedly.

“Hey Finnick, want to sign my cast?” 

“No.”

Nick gestured a paw at Judy. “Carrots did it.” 

“But she actually LIKES you.” Finnick snarked, eliciting a laugh from himself and Judy. 

Nick just pouted, “Ouch, man.  Great to see you too”

 

* * *

“You ready to get out of this place, Nick?” Judy chimed as she opened the door. Hanging from her arm was a large woven brown bag with a bunny’s face stitched into it. The doctors had refused to let Nick out of bed for another hour, so she’d taken the time to grab a few essentials for having a fox crash at your house. 

She found Nick standing in the middle of the room, looking dejectedly at the crutches under his arm, facing away from her in his very loosely tied gown.   _ Very _ loose gown.. Judy snapped her eyes up from the furry rump forcibly and tried to keep them on the back of his head. 

Mostly. 

To be fair, she only snuck two more glances. Three then. What could she say? Professionally speaking, the police training academy had done him some good.

Vaguely she registered Nick answering back and had to force the blood pounding through her head to settle enough that his words would make sense. “I can’t believe they wouldn’t give me a wheelchair. That’s some real gratitude for a civil servant right there.” 

She cleared her throat, brought the number up to four and said, “Uh Nick, you mind turning around?” 

The red fox ambled around in an awkward waddle as he maneuvered the crutches with his one good foot. His face, that had been scowling down at his handicaps, smoothed to curiosity as he noticed first the tone of her voice and then the redness of her face. 

Concerned he asked, “What’s wrong, Carrots?”

She absently pulled her shirt collar away from her warm skin as she replied, “Um your gown has come loose…” 

Nick’s eyes flooded with recognition a moment before a toothy smirk crossed his vulpine muzzle. His tail flicked playfully as he said, “Why, I’m not making you uncomfortable am I?” 

“No,” she said forcefully as she remembered the line he’d used before, on their first case together when he’d lead her to a naturalist’s club. With the same stubbornness she’d showed then she raised her chin, and forced herself to meet his eyes, “but maybe you should put some clothes on before you go out in public … Uh.” 

“Bare ass naked?” he finished when she had trouble finding the right word. She gave half a nod and half a shrug in confirmation. 

“One problem with that, Carrots,” he said as he spun around again, searching for something and (Judy swore it was on purpose this time) giving her another eyeful. He gingerly raised a paw off one crutch to scratch his head, “I can’t find my clothes.” 

Judy gives him an apologetic expression, “Sorry, they had to cut off your pants when they operated on your leg.” She explained, not sure how much he remembered from the post car accident events. “Although I have no clue where your shirt went. It was here when I left last night.” 

“Yeah me neither.” 

Judy suddenly remembered the bag hanging on her arm, and held it up with a proud smile, “Good thing I got you these then!”

She dropped the bag in front of him, and Nick looked inside. He came out holding one of the articles, “Carrots, what the hell are these?”

“Clothes, Nick.”

“Okay, yeah I get why you’d think that, but i don’t think they’re quite finished.”

“Huh?”

“Well they’re missing things, like the legs.” he said as he tugged the cuffs of the shorts. They were a nice casual khaki look that Judy was confident would look good on the russet fox. 

She rolled her eyes, “They’re shorts Nick, they’re meant to be like that.” 

He gave her a scandalised look, “I do not wear shorts, Carrots. I don’t suppose you have any trousers in this bag of yours.”

Judy pointed to his leg, “And how would that’ve gone Slick? It was either this or track pants and they would’ve had to be three sizes too big to fit over the cast.” 

“Fine,” he grumbled as he threw the offending item on the hospital bed, “but it’ll be tricky to wear these with a shirt and tie.” 

“Actually about that…” Judy began innocently. Okay, she may have taken the activity of buying replacement clothes for her friend as an opportunity to break him out of his usual style. But in her defense, even with her limited clothing sense she knew that Nick had long been overdue for a visit from the fashion police.

Nick narrowed his eyes first at her and then the bag. “Carrots, I swear to god, if the next thing I pull out of that bag is plaid, I’m seriously just going to walk out of this place balls naked.”

He pulled out the plain grey fabric curiously, admiring the softness until he unfolded it. His brow scrunched once again and Judy mock-groaned, “Now what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.” He managed to last four seconds before blurting, “but where are the buttons? And the collar? What type of shirt doesn’t have a collar? This is male clothing right?”

Judy laughed, “It’s a T-shirt, Wilde. Stop being an old man.” 

“I’m not an old man. It just seems very… childish.” he explained diplomatically. 

She shrugged, “Fangmeyer wears them.” 

“Exactly.” 

Quickly she recalled another example, “What about Wolford? Jake isn’t childish.” 

“He’s still a wolf! Those pea brains howl at the moon for kicks Judy, you know that.” 

“Stop being a baby. You made it through the academy, you can make it across the city with a t-shirt on.” 

Nick made a face, “Fine. But you’d better not laugh.” 

“Sure,” Judy said non-committedly but after a moment Nick was still staring expectantly. “Well, are you going to change or what?”

“Judy?” his tone was pointed.

“Yeah?” 

With his snout gestured between the shorts and his hospital gown-covered front, “Ermmm... you mind turning around?” 

Like a drill sergeant had called her to attention, she snapped around violently as realisation dawned on her, her back ramrod straight. Silently she prayed he hadn’t noticed the bright pink blooming up her ears. 

Her prayers weren’t answered as he broke out in laughter behind her.

 

* * *

Hours later, as night swept over her little apartment in Savannah Central and the credits of ‘Pup Fiction’ played on Nick’s ancient second hand laptop, a content smile was fixed firmly on her face. They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch with an empty pizza box between them. The laptop was propped up on Judy’s desk for want of a better substitute.

As she hopped up to turn off the computer, Nick turned to her with a funny look, asking “What?”

“I’m sorry?” Judy froze, glancing back at him. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly that he was asking.

“What’s with the bright smile, cottontail?” Nick asked, a smile of his own on his lips, “because there’s no way in hell you enjoyed that movie so much. Endless crime, gratuitous violence and drug use is not really your thing.” 

Judy poked her tongue out at him as she shut off the computer, “Says who?”

“You’re a cop.”

She gave him a pointed look, “So are you.” 

“Yeah but you are  _ the _ cop. Police officer extraordinaire! All about good things and sunshine and eating all your vegetables before dessert.” 

Rolling her eyes, Judy snarked, “Haha, very funny.” 

Moving in front of his outstretched blue leg, she held out her hand to help him up, “Okay fox, time for bed.” 

Nick scrunched his face again before motioning at the couch he was sitting on, “Carrots, I’m already in bed.” 

Shaking her head, Judy jerked her thumb at the single bed hidden away in the corner, “No, I meant ‘bed’ literally.” 

“You know, if this is all a ploy to sleep with me Carrots, you’re going to need a lot more subtlety than that,” Nick said with a smirk. 

Judy blushed but stood her ground, “You’re taking the bed. I’m on the couch dummy.” 

“No Carrots, I couldn’t do that,” Nick said loudly with a wave of his red paws. 

“Nick, you’re injured. We both know you need your beauty sleep.  And the way you look you need a lot of it.” 

She expected him to argue further but was surprised when he said with mock compliance, “If you insist.” 

She barely had to blink before the fox had maneuvered himself onto the bed and relaxed into the relative comfort of the mattress. She had to smile--his self-serving nature could only be denied so much. He had his own smug smile, the one he got after a hustle was successfully completed.

Moving to a cupboard tucked away behind the front door, Judy retrieved extra blankets and pillows. She threw the majority on the couch before grabbing a pillow and moving to where Nick’s was sleeping. 

She positioned it carefully under his leg, fussing over his comfort. 

“Carrots, I’m not a wide eyed kit anymore. No need to play nuresemaid.” 

Judy pulled herself away from his sleep bedraggled form, “Just making sure you’re comfortable.” 

“I’m swell, Carrots,” Nick told her, “you don’t need to worry about me. You’ll be the one on the lumpy couch.” 

“If you say so,” she singsonged as she moved back to the two seater sofa. 

Arranging the blankets and pillow into something sort of resembling a bed, she noticed Nick dozing off out of the corner of her eye. He’d shrugged off his tshirt at some point, and it was dropped messily on the floor whilst he huddled under the covers. He looked strangely peaceful though, whilst still retaining his smug smirk even in relaxation.

As if sensing her gaze, the fox opened his eyes to look at her. His muzzle smiled sardonically as he told her, “If you’re planning on watching me sleep Carrots, I’ve got bad news for you.” 

“Yeah, and what’s that?”

“I’m nocturnal, and you’re a little bunny. I’m going to be wide awake long after you’re recharging your batteries.”

Five minutes later, Nick was snoring his head off and Judy had to smile to herself in the darkness. She was sleeping on her side, her long grey ears drooping over the arm of the couch as her head snuggled into the soft pillow and the blanket all but drowned her small grey body. It was like a cocoon of warmth. 

But that wasn’t why she was smiling. 

Despite its inauspicious start, the day had ended admirably. Her friend was back to his old self, laughing and joking again. Best of all he was safe, somewhere where she could assure herself he wasn’t sleeping under a bridge. 

Indeed, it was almost as if the events of the morning were completely forgotten, and the ghosts of the car crash dispersed. It gave her hope that it would be a quiet two weeks before them. 

Yes, she smiled even more deeply, the day had ended well.

 

* * *

Judy shot awake with a start, her nose twitching uncontrollably. Her primitive instincts screaming at her that something was wrong, but in the euphoric sluggishness following sleep, she had trouble making sense of it. 

It was almost as if her senses had switched on one by one. First she felt the lumpy cushions beneath her and her backs complaint against her sleeping habits. She tasted the disgusting flavour of dehydration in her mouth, her tongue swollen and heavy. 

Her brain reeled once her sense of smell returned to her, the scent throwing her ‘lizard brain’ into overdrive. It was the earthy musky smell that was doing it, the scent of a predator. 

But it was one she recognised, and brought to mind red fur and green eyes.  _ Nick! _ She remembered with a start and almost immediately her body relaxed,  _ the fox was staying with her _ . 

Mystery solved, she attempted to drift back into sleep once more. But her brain refused, buzzing that a smell wasn’t what had woken her so. 

Then she heard it, a low hushed sound, but not in any way calming. The bed springs squeaked and she turned her head up, looking where the mattress lay up against the wall. 

The trickle of light coming through the window from a neon sign outside was enough for Judy to make out the form in the bed. Nicholas Wilde’s auburn coat was a deep maroon in the semi darkness, and he shook as his body tossed back and forth to the side, causing the springs bedsprings to cry out once more. 

But that wasn’t the noise that had woken her. Between his tossing and turning, the unconscious form of her partner let out a broken whimper following a sniffle as his shoulders shook violently. 

The fox was crying, stuck deep in a nightmare, Judy realised and frantically rolled off the couch, moving to help him, but faltering as the realisation hit her. It seemed wrong to disturb him, to bring his private weakness to light in such an irreparable way. 

It was as if waking him would break the carefree facade that was Nick Wilde. 

In the corner of the room, her alarm clock seemed to wink sadistically in the corner, enjoying the joke. Vaguely, Judy remembered the triumphant words she’d thought before she went to sleep, something about the day ending well. 

She could almost hear Nick’s voice laughing back at her as the glowing red digits of 11:59 changed to12:00, condemning her to the joke. ‘ _ You fucking jinxed me Hopps.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always (Awww, I'm saying that a lot - I need a new catch phrase/greeting) thanks a shit load for reading and sticking by this fic, despite my shitty plots. JK my plot are amazing.   
> Again thanks to the betas, they really honest to goodness dragged this chapter over the Finish line. They also brought to my attention some points I should clarify before I get your comments(aka hatemail) regarding them.   
> -Numero Uno: Bucky and Pronks are not in this chapter for a very simple reason. In EA I unfortunately established that Judy was living in a different apartment to the pangolin arms. So I couldn't slip those two pieces of comedic gold in even if I wanted to (and I did).   
> -I know this chapter is a bit all over the place, but I did that intentionally. This is kinda the 'day in the life' chapter.   
> I also want to point out that the 'three horned rhino' joke is a tribute to an amazing piece of fanfiction in this fandom. I'm talking of course about www.Zistopia.com, go check them out if you haven't already.   
> Now I'll stop talking your ears off because you've probably stopped reading by now. If, miraculously, you still are, remember that I appreciate all forms of reviews, comments and criticism (I'll bitch about the last one but I do appreciate it, honest) and I'll try to get back to each and every one.   
> As always, TTFN from Awww and the betas.


	5. Big Foxes Don't Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got the chapter prepared, hope you enjoy it.

_ “...with his impending release, many Zootopian citizens are calling for the lion to be re-elected, despite his recent incarceration…”  _ the television droned from across the room. It was mounted on a small shelf, above the counter, but the volume was loud enough to be heard without being obnoxious. They were in a small diner, located down the street from Judy’s apartment, eating breakfast and getting their daily dose of caffeine.

In most regards, the place was identical to any other little diner in Zootopia; the worn leather booths, little stools designed for both small and medium sized mammals, the overwhelming presence of grease. Tiny red and white tiles ran up a metre on all four walls, decorating it like a vertical chess board.  If Judy was honest with herself, it was actually kind of a dingy place. But that was not why she’d recommended the place when the topic of breakfast was broached, it had one redeeming feature.

Their special homemade carrot soup.

It was the reason she kept coming back to the little business a block down from her apartment building, lured by the promise of a bowl of deliciously warm meal. Judy couldn’t help being nostalgic over the common rabbit dish and had craved the soup that morning. Especially after last night, she’d needed it like a single bunny craved ice cream on valentine's day.

Steam eddied up from the bowl that the waitress had placed in front of her and she spooned a bite into her mouth, remembering to blow on it at the last moment to save her tongue from a scalding punishment. Instantly, warmth flooded her small grey body and she found herself relaxing into the comfortable leather of her seat. This throwback to her childhood bolstered her enough for her to recall last night’s events..

* * *

 

...Judy glared at the clock a moment more, before she was torn back to the present by the slurred mewling. Nick was still shaking in his bed, his body curling into a ball as he tossed and turned. From this distance Judy could even make out the words, a mumbled mantra the fox kept up even in his sleep, “...no, no… god no, don’t let this happen…” 

That more than anything, made up Judy’s mind. She didn’t understand the words, or what they might be in response to, but she recognized a plea for help anywhere.

She hopped up onto the mattress, expecting Nick to wake at the movement, but he stayed trapped deep within the tortured halls of his own mind. Judy hesitated once more as another sob racked him, before steeling herself. It wasn’t a matter of want anymore, she  _ needed _ to wake him up. 

Carefully, she reached out a grey paw and called softly, still content to wake the fox gently at least, “Nick? Nick, it’s all right...”

To her surprise he didn’t wake at the words, regardless of how sharp and attentive he was normally.

The fox didn’t even wake when her paw came with his bare shoulder, but his quaking form stilled. 

He still shook slightly under her touch though, and she could feel his frantic heartbeat pulsing through him like a poison delivered to him by his very mind. Judy opened her mouth to say something more, but closed it abruptly. She didn’t know what to say. He was terrified, and as much as she wanted to call it an unreasonable fear, he  _ had _ been almost killed. The blue cast around his leg was proof of that. 

_ So much for ‘I’m fine’,  _ she noted in indignation. 

“...no... this can’t be happening…” he whimpered softly under her touch, his pulse less erratic but still as heavy.

As a reflex, she moved her paw upwards, combing her fingers through the thicker fur of his neck before pulling back down. She was fully aware that the therapeutic action wasn’t entirely for his benefit-- she was just as terrified herself. 

But his body reacted instinctively, arching towards her, and the nightmarish mumbling died down to a soft hum. So she continued, stroking that curve from his scruff to his shoulder. She was delighted to notice his breathing becoming more steady in result, his heartbeat slowing as his body pushed into the motion.

Judy stayed like that for a while, not leaving until exhaustion threatened to drop her where she sat. Eventually she slipped from the soft mattress and padded back to the uncomfortable sofa lounge chair, trying to avoid another awkward conversation she didn’t want to have, and definitely not wanting to explain how she woke up in bed with the fox. Despite her tiredness, her brain refused to let her rest even after her head touched the pillow. Instead it continued to drum in the consequences and meaning of what just happened.

* * *

“Ha!” she was brought from her reverie by Nick’s voice. He was looking at the television screen, an interview with ex-mayor Lionheart playing, complete with an orange jumpsuit. The fox shook his head, “If he thinks anyone is going to vote for him, after the stunt he pulled, he’s got another thing coming.”

Judy quirked an eyebrow, “ _ Bellwether _ pulled the stunt, Nick. Lionheart was just doing damage control, for the city. Maybe if we’d listened to him to begin with...”

It’d taken Judy a long time to accept that, even after Bellwether had been exposed for the mad sheep mastermind she was. After all, Judy herself had instigated the very disaster the lion had been trying to avoid; the distrust of all predators. And she couldn’t even complain about a lack of warning-- the lion had given it to her, even as she had dragged him away in cuffs.

She’d assumed Nick would’ve been all for the lion’s re-election. But the fox once again surprised her, as he snorted, “No, he was only looking out for himself, Carrots. You were right about that at least.”

Judy shrugged, letting the conversation drop. This was another thing she and Nick didn’t talk about, the Bellwether case that had been fondly coined “conspiracy” by the media and  _ fiasco _ by the precinct. The ZPD had single handedly been hoodwinked by the ewe, led like hounds following a red herring, away from the trail of the real mastermind. All whilst the city came apart around them. 

The fact that the sheep mayor had only been caught by luck had just added salt to the wound. If Dawn Bellwether hadn’t arrived at the museum personally, she wouldn’t have been implicated at all. And then if she hadn’t vainly called the cops herself, she’d have had the time to finish her attempted murder of one Judy Hopps. But instead they’d been… well, lucky.

Even if it was still a sore point for the ZPD as a whole. 

And it served to remind Judy of the current fiasco, the one that had broken the not-as-emotionally-tough-as-I-thought Nick Wilde. This was one they  _ needed _ to talk about. With a steady intake of air, Judy decided that now was as good a time as any. 

“Nick,” the fox looked up, his eyebrow quirking slightly in response, “we need to talk.”

There was a moment of confusion before he caught on and his face molded into the usual calm demeanor. Taking a sip from his coffee, he asked, “What about?”

If it was possible to project complete disbelief in one look, Judy was sure she achieved it. Like hell he didn’t know what about. Nevertheless she reached out a paw towards his, “Nick, you were crying last night.” 

If he was surprised by the information, it didn’t show, instead he kept that smug look on his face as he resumed drinking his coffee and shrugged, “Didn’t happen.”

Judy scowled, the easy way he said it almost made her believe him. But she’d been there. “No, you did, Nick. In your sleep.” 

“Well, you must have been mistaken, Carrots.” Nick said a little more forcefully, “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming it up, Carrots,  _ in your sleep _ ?” 

“No...I mean yes, yes I’m sure,” Judy protested, trying to keep her calm. “Nick, you need help, let me give it to you.”

Finally his muzzle wrinkled in annoyance, before smoothing back into that calm facade once more, “I’m fine, Judy.” 

Judy stared at him, at his smug I’m-nick-wilde-and-I-don’t-care look. It was a mask that he’d worn since they first met, and it drove her crazy, “Nick, you are not-.” 

“I said I’m fine,  _ Hopps _ ,” he said, cutting her off in a tone that brooked no argument, “Nothing happened.”

Judy wanted to argue. She wanted to throw her soup in his smug face as well. See how fine he is then. 

_ Ha, at least the colour will match, _ she thought bitterly. 

But instead she shut her mouth and sighed wearily, before spooning another bit of soup into her mouth and quietly thanking the chef’s inclusion of ginger. The spice was somewhat soothing to her annoyed mentality. 

She could admit it, she was pissed. She’d spent the better part of the night stroking her partner’s fur, because even if he couldn’t admit he was upset - his body could. And for what? Just to have him throw her concern, his vulnerability, back in her face; even to deny it all together. Darn it, why did he have to be so stubborn?

With effort she took ten long steady breaths, remembering the method her mother taught her for dealing with insufferable siblings. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. When she’d sufficiently steadied herself, she spoke.

“Fine,” maybe she wasn’t as calm as she made out to be, but she tried to be civil, “what do you want to do today?”

Nick narrowed his eyes at her, suspicious. He’d likely noticed her stormy reaction to his denial. But evidently he chose to ignore it as he shrugged and averted his eyes, having drawn his line in the sand.  

* * *

After breakfast, they agreed to return to her apartment. Firstly because neither of them could decide on anything to do, and secondly because Judy needed the comfort of familiarity. It hadn’t been an argument per se, the fox evading the issue and avoiding any direct confrontation by treating the matter as a difference of opinions... 

Namely, Nick’s opinion differing from the obvious facts. 

Judy was careful to keep from grumbling about it and habitually reminded herself how Nick was the victim here, not her. It didn’t stop Nick from clearing his throat as they ascended the flight of stairs up to the apartment.

“You know Carrots,” Nick said dryly, “if you think any louder they’ll pick it up on the police scanners.”

“I’m not thinking loudly,” she said petulantly. Then she grumbled, finding an excuse, “And I was just thinking about how I have to go shopping. What do foxes even eat? Besides berries, donuts and coffee.” 

Nick hummed, his ears flicking back as he began counting off each item with a movement of his head, whilst his arms kept shuffling him along on the crutches, “Berries, bugs, vegetables, mushrooms, fish, small naive grey bunnies that have been fooled into a false sense of security by our innate charm.” 

“Watch it fox, this bunny isn’t on the menu.” 

“But you’re not taking offense to the naive thing, huh?” When she gave him a scornful look he laughed, “We’re omnivores, Carrots, we’ll eat anything; even carrots… if we have to. Don’t worry about it.”

Judy nodded and glanced at the drawing on his leg, “Uh huh, but if you had the choice?”

“Definitely the naive grey bunny,” he said with a laugh.

Judy was about to say something equally mocking in return when she heard heavy footsteps from the bottom of the stairs. Immediately her brain went into panic mode, recalling Nick and Finnick’s warning about prey buildings and foxes, and she pushed him into the doorway on the landing, fortunate that they’d actually reached their floor. She pressed her keys into his paws and hissed at him, “Hide!” 

She closed the stairwell door, cutting off Nick’s response, just in time to hear “Miss Hopps! Wait a second, will you?”

She spun around, hands behind her back and a bright smile on her face in an attempt to look innocent. “Of course Mrs. Tamandua.” she told the anteater sow, “what can I do for you?”

When the hunched back of her landlady came into view, Judy straightened self-consciously, her ears erect.  Regardless, Mrs. Tamandua cast a withering glance down the length of her snout at the grey bunny before her, “You can help me, rabbit, by making up your mind already! If you’re going to continue living here, you should have extended your lease agreement weeks ago.” 

“Of course, I’m sorry, Mrs. Tamandua.” Judy had the decency to look significantly penitent, “things have just been busy at work.” 

At this the sow softened slightly, as she always did when Judy mentioned her service to the city. It was how she’d gotten away with it all these weeks anyway. “Of course Judy, and I appreciate everything you do for this city. But I need a response, so I can let other prospective tenants know.”

Judy nodded agreeably, “Absolutely Mrs. Tamandua, let me think it over and I’ll have my response by the end of the week.”

The anteater nodded but sighed, “All right, but no later than this week, you hear?” 

Judy nodded but the landlady had already turned around, making for the stairs. The rabbit thought she was in the clear until the anteater stopped, snout up in the air and sniffing thoughtfully. 

Judy froze, sprung, as Mrs. Tamandua turned to her with a miffed expression, “Hopps, why do you smell of fox?”

She didn’t bat an eye as she spouted out an excuse, “My partner’s a fox, at the Precinct. Remember?”

Technically it wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth. Regardless, Mrs. Tamandua looked like she was going to dispute it for a moment. Then she rolled her shoulders and turned away, “Yes, I remember. Don’t forget to take a shower to clean off that stench, Hopps. It’ll put off all the nice bucks you’ll meet.”

Judy inwardly screamed, she did  _ not _ smell. But the smarter side of her decided to end the conversation whilst she still could, before something else incriminating popped up. Next thing she knew, it would be fox fur. 

Once the anteater’s back had disappeared, Judy let out a breath and went through the door behind her, emerging on her floor. A quick glance down both sides of the hallway revealed that the coast was clear, and more importantly, that Nick hadn’t been caught. 

* * *

She found him inside her room, desperately trying to reach under his cast to scratch an itch with one claw. Failing to scratch was a more accurate term;  vulpine anatomy hadn’t evolved with scratching beneath plaster in mind. Instead of looking up at her arrival, he instead chose to scowl at the offending foot. 

“You look like you’re about to gnaw your own foot off,” Judy said flippantly. 

Nick’s ears twitched, “I was not.”

“Yeah you were,” Judy said with a smirk. “Or do you usually have staring competitions with your toes?”

Nick wrinkled his snout at her childishly, before saying, “I can’t believe you tried to hide me in your room.”

Judy shrugged, “My landlord.” 

“You pushed me through a doorway, Carrots.” he added for effect, “You pushed an injured fox, that’s police brutality, that is.” 

“Somehow I don’t feel so guilty when I do it to you, Nick,” Judy chimed sweetly as she sat down next to him on the couch. 

“Ha ha, bunny.” In response Nick reached over and, placing a paw on her shoulder, pushed her over. When she pushed herself up indignant and ready to hit back, Nick pointed to his cast as if to say ‘you wouldn’t hit an injured fox would you?’. Regardless, he got a punch in the arm. 

Once they stopped laughing and rubbing their shoulders, he asked, “So what did the landlady want?”

Judy shrugged, “the same thing as she usually wants.”

“Rent?” 

“No,” she swatted his arm casually, “she wants me to hurry up and decide if I’m staying or not.” 

“Oh,” Nick said. His tone wasn’t accusing or questioning, but there was something in it that made Judy look up at him. She could tell it had been on his mind too, and he looked like he was getting the courage up to say something. 

She beat him to it, “Nick?”

“Yeah, Carrots.”

“So I was thinking,” she began, with a lot less confidence than she did before, ”we’ve been planning to move in together for two months now. And I’m not saying it’s your fault, I’m not, but we haven’t done anything about it. I guess we’ve been too busy with work.” 

She paused but he nodded, urging her to continue, “but we’re both benched now. For two weeks at least. And I… I thought maybe we could at least start looking for an apartment.”

Feeling like she was rambling, Judy forced herself to stop talking for a minute and look at him. Nick hesitated, his snout dipping in thought while he mulled it over. It made her wish, not for the first time, that she could read his mind. Because when Nick he wanted to be, he was anything but transparent.

When he pursed his lips, he looked at her again, as if deliberating her reaction, “I don’t know, Carrots, maybe we should wait a little?”

“We’ve already waited ‘a little’, Nick.” Judy raised an eyebrow, “wouldn’t it be more comfortable than living under a bridge? Or in a van?”

“I guess,” he muttered. Then he added, “Although I feel pretty uncomfortable with you watching me sleep. It’s creepy.” 

Judy bit back a reply about it not being necessary if he wasn’t having nightmares. Instead she gave him her most placating smile as she patted his knee, “You can have your own room. Anything else?”

When he hummed thoughtfully, Judy rolled her eyes. “We’ll  just be looking, Nick. I’m not asking you to sign your life away. Let’s just see what's out there?” 

Finally the easy smile returned and he nodded warily, “Fine, we’ll look. It’ll give us something to do, I guess.” 

If he was reluctant, Judy ignored it. Instead she fist pumped the air  with a victorious ‘yes!’ It had taken two months and a broken leg to get him this far. And if Nick pouted at her blatant victory, she only beamed as she dug out her phone. 

It was time to hit up Craneslist. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little shorter than my others for a number of reasons, besides power issues and work priorities. Firstly of all is that the next chapter will be longer again, and I didn't want to break any of it off into this chapter.  
> Secondly, I've been preoccupied planning out future fics (I'm really excited for them) and kind of got writers block on this fic. Luckily, the faithful beta's were nice enough to kick my ass into gear and help freshen some of my blockier sentences, so as always, I'd like to thank both of them.  
> And on the topic of beta's, the amazing AsekaSilver (red velvet panda on tumblr) has drawn yet more fanart for this series. I highly recommend looking it up if you haven't already, at http://red-velvet-panda.tumblr.com/post/146985808468/nick-wilde-fandom-punching-bag-awwwcoffee-no  
> As always, thanks again for reading (and patiently awaiting the next chapter) and I apologise for the shortage in content this week. Again feel free to message me about anything, because I enjoy replying back to all of you.  
> So until next time, ciao from AwwwCoffee


	6. One step forwards...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait.   
> The good news is we're hitting the good stuff here, so enjoy.

“What are you doing?” Judy asked, tilting her head in observation. She’d looked up from her house-hunting to behold the fox, shifting and changing position with his camera held out at arm's length from his spot on the couch. It was bizarre to behold, to say the least. 

It wasn’t until he turned towards her with a duckface pout still half-formed on his lips, that she understood. Nick was posing for his smartphone’s camera. His eyes glanced up at her, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You’re taking a selfie?” she asked, not bothering to hide the patronization in her voice. 

His eyebrows rose, but a cool smirk tugged at his red and cream muzzle. “What gave it away?”

“It might have something to do with you taking a picture of yourself, now that I think of it.” Judy pursed her lips as she looked at him,trying to work out why his antics bothered her. After all, it wasn’t like it was the first time Nick had taken a selfie; he did it all the time when they were on shift. Usually, whilst she did the real work. Suddenly, she had it. “You only take selfies when you’re in the squad car, procrastinating from doing real work.” 

His ears shot up and he stopped posing mid duckface. The fox’s tone was suspiciously even as he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So not procrastinating at all then?” 

“Nope,” Nick pointedly took another picture, which was announced by the loud shutter sound. 

Judy’s lips twitched into a nostalgic smile, they’d done this routine before. But it was a work thing, and they weren’t on the clock now, obviously. So she let it slide. Instead, she asked, “So found any places yet?”

“Well, would you believe it, but I just can’t seem to connect to the internet at all.”

“Really? Now that is strange,” Judy held up her phone pointedly, “because I have full bars.” 

Nick nodded solemnly, “Strange? It definitely is.”

She spared the time to give him her  _ ‘you’re the moron who can run a plate’ _ look. It was the epitome of patronisation. The fox was rarely predictable, Judy had learned, but he could always be trusted to act lazily.

“Well  _ I, _ at least,” Judy continued, “have something to show for it. Already got three possibles.”

Nick raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?”

Judy glanced down at the tabs open on her phone, her lips twitching. She’d spent the last half of an hour on Craneslist, scrolling through every property that made up the first ten pages. It didn’t help that they didn’t narrow it down to a suburb, but a few places had stood out. She wet her lips before explaining, “There’s one in downtown Zootopia… two bedrooms, fully furnished and a short walk to the Precinct.”

“But?”

Judy’s ears shot up, annoyed, “How do you know there’s a but?”

Nick’s smirk was patronizing, just shy of actually offensive as he told her, “There’s always a but, Carrots. So cough it up.”

The rabbit tried not to wince as she admitted, “It’s a little outside our price range.”

“Define a little?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Judy could already hear his rejection, and it was a shame. It was such a nice place, going by the pictures. The walls were a nice sunshine yellow and there was even room for a garden. A garden in the city. Regardless she answered, “Four hundred a week.”

“Four hundred dollars a week?” Nick’s eyes bulged a little at the sum.

“Each,” she muttered under her breath, hoping he wouldn’t hear to no avail.

“Each? And they called me a hustler,” he snorted with a laugh. The fox kept the rumbling guffaw up loudly, and Judy waited until he’d gotten it out of his system. Slowly he shook his head before looking at her again, “Okay, what’s next?”

“A place in Sahara Square-.” she started. 

“Nope,” Nick cut in immediately, his tone severe.

Indignant, Judy’s ears pulled back as she replied, “I didn’t even tell you about-.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s Sahara Square. If I wanted to relax after a long day of work by sweating my balls off, I’d go to a steam room.” Nick said authoritatively. He’d had a horrible time of the desert heat not long ago when they’d had a case in the city district. 

She could understand his reluctance, but still. Judy rolled her eyes, “It wouldn’t be that bad.” 

“Do they have air conditioning?”

Judy’s left ear twitched involuntarily in response, she hadn’t thought of that, “No.” 

“I don’t do heat, Carrots. You remember the Thumper case, right? Me stinking up the car and fur going everywhere? If we move to Sahara Square, that would be me twenty-four-seven.”

“Fine,” Judy grumbled. She was trying not to feel put out, especially since Nick hadn’t offered up anything, “I don’t suppose you want to hear the last one?”

“Go for it Cottontail.” 

She took a look at the last tab open in her internet browser, scanning the details. “It’s in Savannah Central, two bedroom apartment with airconditioning and heating. One-hundred and fifty dollars a week each?”

Over on the couch, Nick hummed to himself, “I don’t know Carrots...”

Judy cut him off before he could finish, “Come on, Nick. It’s perfect. They’ve even got inspections open today.”

“Fine, we’ll go  _ look _ .”

* * *

 

“Can’t you go any faster? I thought foxes were meant to be quick.” Judy smirked over her shoulder, looking back at him as she stopped to wait for the fox yet again. It was the third time so far. To be fair, trying to climb stairs on crutches wasn’t the easiest thing to do. No matter what species you are. 

But Judy was excited, they were finally looking at a place. Somehow even a small step of progression was exciting and she felt electric with anticipation. The cream plaster walls, and wooden floorboards of the building seemed to glow in the light of such optimism. She felt like she could fairly sprint all the way through the building to her destination, without a drop of sweat.

The only thing slowing them down was Nick, who she had to stop and wait at each landing of the spiralling stairway for. Ideally, they would have taken the elevator, except that it was shut down, with yellow caution tape crossed beneath a large red out-of-order sign upon it’s closed doors, like some type of jolly roger. From what Judy could gather from a notice on the ground floor, it was because of a mishap involving two of the building’s tenants and some type of experimental rocket fuel. Judy had laughed and shaken her head at the sign, hoping it was some sort of joke. 

“You know what, Carrots,” Nick grumbled as he hauled himself up the stairwell, sweating from the exertion, despite the day’s cool temperature, “next time we go house hunting, I’ll take one of your legs and see how you like limping around -- maybe I’ll even keep it as a good luck charm.”

Judy rolled her eyes at him, “Har har, very original, Mr. Wilde. How long did it take you to come up with that one?”

“Not long, to be honest,” he admitted with a shrug.

“At least you’re capable of speed in some aspect then -- even if it is only quick thinking. I bet Flash could get up these stairs faster than you.” 

Nick sighed in exasperation, but a smile was on his lips as he shooed her away, “I don’t need you to babysit me. Go and look at the apartment already, I’ll catch up.”

Judy inwardly clapped, but after a moment hesitated, “Are you sure?”

“No, I said it because I felt obligated.” His deadpan expression broke into an eyeroll, “Of course I’m fucking sure, Hopps.” 

Judy, ignoring Nick’s profanity with a practiced ease, gave him a sterner expression and held up a pointed finger, “Okay, just remember it’s room 4C.”

“4C, got it.” When she didn’t move immediately, he made the shooing motion again, “Now go!”

Judy smirked at his antics but diligently turned away, hopping up the last flight of steps. 

She followed a short hallway down the length of the floor, the light coloured wood felt surprisingly warm under her feet.

She stopped at the second doorway on the right, which was open so as to allow a glimpse into the spartan interior. Judy paused, unsure of proper inspection etiquette. The visible space, a main room, she thought, was some kind of living area. Large and spacious, it was partly carpeted and partly floored in linoleum, suggesting that somewhere out of sight was a kitchen area. When she angled her head in, she could see three doors branching off it. 

Eventually she settled for knocking lightly on the door of the entryway, drawing the attention of a petite looking antelope. She was inside the closest of the three rooms, but she peeked her dainty head through the doorway and upon seeing Judy, she beamed. She stepped out of the room and made her way over quickly, dressed in a black pencil skirt and billowy white blouse. Her hips swayed rhythmically as she walked, reminiscent of popstar Gazelle’s strutting swing. 

“Oh hi,” she said, her voice even more chipper than Judy herself could manage on a good day, “are you here to look at the apartment?”

Taken back by the gaudy positivity, Judy could only nod, “Yes, yes I am.”

“Splendid! My name’s Lucille Ibex, and you are?”

“Judy, Judy Hopps,” the rabbit smiled politely as she accepted the offered hoof. She felt suddenly submissive in the mammal’s overpowering presence.

“Well if you’ll come this way I’d love to show you the rest of the place. You’ve already seen the living room of course.” The slender ungulate lead her way through one of the three interior doorways, which Judy soon discovered led into a compact bedroom. It had a nice grey shade colouring the walls, offset by the white carpet and ceiling but what really drew Judy’s eyes were drawn to the large window looking over the city streets. 

“As you can see, the bedroom floors are fully carpeted, the walls freshly painted, and all lightbulbs newly fitted.”

Judy looked around, a thought striking her, “Miss Ibex…”

“Oh please, call me Lucy,” the landlady said with an attitude so sugary it would have caused even Nick’s sweet tooth to ache. She started out the door, and Judy obediently followed her into the next room. 

“Okay, Lucy. I was just wondering about the rules?”

Lucy snorted, “Rules? Oh look this is the bathroom”

“You know, the conditions of living here.” 

“Oh we don’t call them rules? I prefer to consider them more as guidelines.” she tittered. 

They were halfway to the second bedroom when the antelope stopped mid stride, her ears twitching towards the open front door. After a moment she moved to it, her slender hooves carrying her across the wooden flooring. Judy’s ear twitched towards the sound, but relaxed when she only heard the familiar tick-tock of her partner’s crutches, like a grandfather clock having an epileptic attack. 

The antelope stuck her head out into the hallway, and startled. Judy heard a gulp as Lucy gained her composure. But she wasn’t expecting the doe’s reaction, “Excuse me? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the inspection,” Judy heard Nick explain.

Lucy Ibex snorted a laugh, “Absolutely not. This is a private inspection.”

“Wait,” Judy said as she walked up, causing the landlady to turn, “he’s with me.”

“I’m sorry?”

“We’re moving in together,” she explained. Surely, that wasn’t too difficult a concept to grasp. 

Instead, the antelope turned fully on her, all traces of cheerfulness evaporating like moisture in the sun. She shook her head pointedly, “Unacceptable. I’m sorry, but I  _ will  _ not have one of his kind in my building!”

“A predator?” Judy asked with a raised eyebrow. 

The landlady rolled her eyes, ignoring the fox behind her rudely, “A fox. They cannot be trusted, and you’d do well to realise that, rabbit.” 

“He’s a police officer, miss.” 

Lucy laughed, “Is that meant to mean something? Some sort of assurance, perhaps? He will  _ not _ be living here.”

Judy chest flared, and she balled her fists. She didn’t know which was worse, the blatant disrespect against her friend or the ZPD. After a moment, she decided it was definitely the former and stepped forward to give the ungulate a piece of her mind. 

“Hopps,” Nick said sharply, from behind the offending mammal, and waited until Judy met his eyes, “she’s not worth it. Let’s go.”

Judy hesitated a moment, wanting to continue her righteous crusade. But the clearing of Nick’s throat made her obediently move past the landlady. Falling in step with Nick as he started crutching away, Judy fought to keep her anger down. 

From behind her, the antelope laughed and muttered, “Good riddance.” And that nearly broke it. Judy was already stalking back to the racist mammal when Nick’s paw grabbed her by the back of her shirt and started dragging her back, in a half-limping gait. Judy fought it for a moment, making grabbing paws at the harpy from hell before she gave up and slumped into the humiliating situation.

He didn’t let go of her until they reached the stairwell, when he placed her lightly on the ground. Not even looking at her, he asked “Are you going to behave now?”

Sighing, Judy nodded as she got to her feet, “Yes. I… I just don’t know how you can be so calm about it. Th… that... bitch was so freaking rude to you and…” 

“Was that an honest to god insult I heard from you, Carrots?” Nick deflected, “Your parents would be so disappointed.” 

Judy shot him a look, “Don’t change the subject.” 

“I’m going to have to wash your mouth out with soap, aren’t I?” Nick said, ignoring her. 

“ _ Nick _ ,” Judy said with a little more insistence, “I’m sorry. I should’ve anticipated-”

“Carrots,” Nick held onto his crutches tightly as he stooped to her level, “you asked me how I can stand it? The truth is you get used to it, so many people are just like her.” 

Judy dropped her gaze, mouthing, “Oh.” 

She felt a nimble red finger lift up her jaw, “But then you have the people who care. People who unabashedly try to be good, despite everything, and they make it worth it. I guess what I’m trying to say, Carrots, is that you don’t need to apologise.” 

Judy nodded, worrying her bottom lip. Absently, she threw a look back towards where they came from, “I just wish there was something we could do… to spite her.”

To her surprise, Nick huffed a laugh as he got to his feet. He started making his way down the stairs, both crutches securely under his armpits, “I tell you what, when my leg’s fixed we’ll come back. Just you and me, and we’ll egg the building.”

Judy laughed, unsure if he was joking or not, before deciding she didn’t mind and followed after him once more.

* * *

_ FF: ‘Hey, Judy xxx Yay, ur finally house hunting!’ _

Judy looked down at the text message, surprised at the quick reply. The contact picture showed a tiny arctic shrew, black hair in an immaculate doo, and the tiny bundle in her arms, a pink miniature snout poking out. 

The daughter of the infamous crime lord, Judy’s only non-coworker female friend, had known about their plan to move in together the moment Nick had agreed to it all those months ago. The moment Nick had actually agreed to look for places it had only felt right that Fru-Fru knew. 

Now less than three hours after informing the shrew, she was suggesting places. Judy slurped on her soda as the first link came up and she clicked it. 

They were sitting in the sun, outside Bug Burger, for lunch. With winter fast approaching, it had seemed like a smart decision to soak up the rays while it lasted. Next to her, on the well manicured lawn sat Nick, laying back in an attempt to extend his leg and stuffing his face with one of the greasy burgers. Judy was just glad they’d finally come up with some vegetarian alternatives.

Still, she couldn’t help poking fun whenever they stopped here, “You know, Nick, for someone so skinny, you sure do put away a lot of food.”

Nick paused in the destruction of his second burger to narrow his eyes suspiciously at her. Finally, when he decided she was NOT in fact insulting him, he shrugged, “Not all of us can survive on lettuce, Hopps.”

Judy decided she wouldn’t mention the large chunk of fried cricket lodged in his fur, looking like an ugly mole at the corner of his muzzle, and joked, “Sure, but where the heck are you putting it all?” 

Nick waited until she looked him in the eyes before waggling his eyebrows, “Well since you asked…” 

“Anyway!” Judy said loudly before a repeat of the carrot drawing incident could start, “I’ve found a few more possibles.”

Nick stopped chewing his burger but otherwise didn’t react. Judy hoped that he wasn’t thinking back to the last time. Then again she couldn’t blame him. Finally the red fox assented, “Go on.”

“Well the first one is a neat little unit down in Tundratown, two bedroom, kitchenette, laundry room, heated floors… the whole shebang. And it’s only two hundred a week, all up.”

Nick drank in the information before he said, “Okay, add it to the list. What’s next?”

Judy looked at the next link, rattling off the details. Two bedroom, walk in wardrobe, central heating…”

“Where is it?” 

“Tundratown as well.” 

Nick paused for a second his eyes calculating as he studied the remains of his burger, “As well, huh? What’s the address?”

Judy looked at the top of the web page, mouthing the words first to make sure she got it right. “Apennine Terrace.” 

Nick’s eyes shot up. “You’ve been talking to Mr Big, haven’t you?” 

“What?” Judy spluttered, almost choking on her smoothie, “No, I haven’t.”

“What about Fru-Fru?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

Judy’s own eyes widened incredulously. “How did you know that?”

“I know everyone, Carrots,” he responded, “and I also know places. Mr Big owns that whole street: every house, apartment and cardboard box.” 

Judy shook her head, “No he doesn’t, this is owned by an ‘Arctic Circle Holdings’.”

Nick rolled his eyes like he couldn’t be anymore disappointed in her, “Fluff, that’s a shell company, a front. And it’s an obvious one at that.  No,we’re not going.”

“Why not?” Judy argued, “Don’t you want to at least hear the rest of them?”

Nick wrapped up the rest of his burger, no longer hungry, and said, “Not really, not if they came from the Bigs.” 

He pulled himself up to his feet, using a crutch for leverage. Judy scowled after him, “What for? They’re only trying to help.” 

“Of course, they’re just trying to look after the godmother of their newest little addition. But let me ask you this, Carrots, what would happen if Bogo found out we were living in one of the Big’s properties?”

“Excuse me?”

He started hobbling off, his shoulders hunched over and every step of his crutches causing his t-shirt to ride up slightly. Over his shoulder, he threw back, “I think you’re in denial.  Picture this; two police officers like ourselves, one of them with my history, start living in a house owned by one of the most notorious crime lords in Zootopia. Bad enough that one of them has been accepted into the family out of the blue, but they are fucking living under Big’s roof as well. Now what would the Chief think about this? Hell, imagine if Internal Affairs found out?”    
Judy stopped for a second, considering the scenario. As much as she hated to admit, the fox had a point. Regardless, she felt the need to defend her shrew friend.

“But the Big’s didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, I’m sure they didn’t, or at least Fru-Fru didn’t. But that doesn’t change the facts now, does it?”

“You could have just said that,” Judy said when the fox continued his off tempo pace.

“I just did.” 

Judy let him get just far enough ahead to glare at his back. In annoyance she called, “You know, you can’t walk away from every problem, Wilde!”

As she hurried to catch up she heard him snort, “Not with this cast, I can’t.”

* * *

 

When faced with belittling or dismissal, Judy had the habit of working twice as hard to prove the offending party wrong. 

That was why, when she got home, she furiously resumed searching for the perfect place. Shunning aside thousands of entries due to things like district, habitat, price, and how likely it was to be biased against prey or predators, she searched well into the afternoon. 

Then she found it. Not just one place, but a whole suburb of them. The district was near the center of the city, the temperature neither hot or cold, the price was dirt cheap and the owner was a predator. Heck, even the district name sounded cheery.

Nick was on his phone, lounging across her bed when she looked up, his leg outstretched like a flag on a mailbox, waiting to be pushed up. 

“Hey, Nick,” Judy said carefully, considering the last time she’d brought up a place he’d had an immediate negative, if valid reaction. “I found a few more possibilities to look at, and I feel pretty good about them.” 

Nick looked up, thoughtful, “As long as they’re not in Tundratown or Sahara Square, it’s fine by me.”

Judy felt a smile sneak onto her face and the ball of unease in her stomach began to unknot, so far so good. Maybe she  _ wasn’t _ just putting up targets for him to shoot down. “They’re in a place called Happytown--.”

“No.” Nick said curtly.

“But you just said…” 

“I just said no, Carrots..”

“But I haven’t even told you….”

“Hopps, the answer is no.” 

Finally, she huffed in pure frustration, her foot beginning a tell tale tapping on the wood floor. “No to what?”

Nick stared at her indignantly, “Excuse me? What else is there to know, Carrots?”

“Well….” Judy drew out the word, “... do you just mean “no” to this place? Or maybe... you just don’t want to move in with  _ me _ all together? Because honestly, that’s what this is starting to feel like.”

“Don’t-” 

“Don’t what? Ask a real, honest-to-goodness question? Expect a real answer for once? Because you keep pulling this… this dumb shit. You’re all, ‘I’m Nick Wilde and I don’t care, nothing bothers me’, and it’s so bullshit, Nick. ” 

Nick balled his fists, opening his jaw to retort, but before he could interrupt, she leapt onto the next fuse of anger. It was like something had finally unlocked inside her, and she could finally unleash the rant that had been gradually building for days, even weeks now. 

“First the car crash, and then stupid peabrain mcgee today at the open house, not to mention-” 

 

She was ready to throw in how she’d spent the previous night, comforting him through a nightmare, but didn’t want to to give the fox a thread he could pull at and unravel the rest of her argument with a denial of the event ever happening. She forged ahead with the barest of pauses. “Every time I try to show even one iota of concern for my partner,  _ and my friend _ , you shrug it off and sweep it under the rug. 

 

“And, now you’re shutting me down once again, and it’s like, what the hell, Nick? What is it this time? What could you possibly have against a place called  _ Happy- _ town? Happy is in the fricking name, for heaven’s sake.”

 

She paused for breath, but his continued glum silence only provoked  her more. “You won’t even give me a reason, Nick. You just keep shutting down my suggestions, and for what? I bet you haven’t even looked for places, have you? Can’t be just laziness, surprise, surprise.  No, you’re just waiting for me to give up so you don’t have to admit you don’t actually want to live with me, aren’t you?”

 

“Judy, stop.” 

 

“No, Nick. You stop, stop using your damn ‘drop it’ card for once. It’s like I’m not even allowed to ask reasonable questions without you acting like our friendship is somehow on the line if I expect you to answer them. Can’t you just man up and be honest with me for once?!” Judy had to physically bite her tongue to keep the rest of her frustration inside, not wanting to ask the most damning question of all:whether they should just call the whole thing off. Maybe this whole thing  really was just a recipe for disaster. 

Judy stopped the line of thought immediately as she took in the sight of him. His brows narrowed in anger, and his fists balled close at his sides, shaking with emotion. His mouth was tightly pressed in a hard line, and yet his body still heaved with each breath, like he was holding back the flood gates on the dam of emotion. 

And finally it had burst. 

 

“Fine.” 

 

She had half-expected a roar, but what emerged was more like a low growl, a sound of someone desperately attempting to hold himself back, and failing.  Judy would have almost preferred that he had yelled or thrown a tantrum, some upfront attack she could defend against.  But now something much deeper than simple frustration or annoyance now gleamed from his eyes, and even though  she had been hoping to crack his impervious wall, she suddenly felt a twinge of  dread over what was about to spill out of the fracture. “You really want to know?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you like it? Good, huh? I hope so. Eitherway post a review in the comments to validate my ego/support my fears.  
> As always this fic couldn't happen without the support of my two beta's. Otherwise you'd be swimming in grammatical errors and dialogue worthy of a five year old.   
> Also a timeless must, is a thankyou to all you readers, whom without I'd never have the motivation to finish this story infesting my mind.   
> As a reward for being so patient and loyal I'll let you in on a little secret, the next chapter is a good one.   
> So until then, this is good bye from the luckiest fanfic writer in the world.   
> Goodbye from AwwwCoffee


	7. Won't you take me to... Happytown!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so we finally got this far. I'd like to give a big round of applause to AsekaSilver and JustNibblin, one for prodding me to make sure I was alive when I stopped working for more than an hour, and the other for steering the train wreck of a draft into something comprehensible.   
> So without further a do, enjoy the chapter.

Judy stood there, stunned at the fox’s explosive transition. He was standing there, with a hard gaze and wrinkled muzzle. Angry. The grey fabric of his shirt expanding and contracting with every breath as he waited.  
Impatiently, he repeated when the silence stretched on further, “Well, what’s the answer, Carrots? Do you want to know _my_ _big_ _bad_ secret?” 

Judy quivered involuntarily at the harsh tone; it was one she hadn’t been on the receiving end of since the Nighthowler press conference. A part of her just wanted to apologise and forget the whole thing. But she’d resolved herself to learn the reason for his actions, to cut past the half-truths and false answers that the fox reserved for everyone save himself. So in the end she swallowed her fear, straightened her shoulders, matched his glare, and nodded.

“Fantastic!” The fox said with a harsh laugh, almost manic, and clapped his hands together dramatically, “get changed, let’s go for a drive.” 

“Drive?”  Judy asked, drawing the word out, confused. She didn’t like Nick’s approach, all broiling anger and no spillage. He was playing it like a long con, taking the scenic route to hide some sleight of hand that would come back to bite her later on. Ever since she was a kit, Judy had learned to take the direct approach; boldly cutting to the chase to get what she wanted. If Nick merely yelled at her, she would have known what to do, how to respond. As it was, she couldn’t read the fox’s angle,  “Why not just tell me? You know, right here..”

“Me?” He pointed two claws at himself, like the idea was ridiculous. “The dishonest fox who keeps giving you bullshit answers? Like you’d even believe me even if I told you.” He glared at her as he hobbled towards the door, “No, it’s better if I show you. Seeing is believing, right.  So I’ll be waiting outside. Now get changed.”

“Changed?” Was all Judy could say as the fox reached the apartment’s door. It was the only thing that still sounded unreasonable. Didn’t make any sense. Why did  _ she _ need to get changed? She looked down at her current outfit - a well worn ZPD shirt over her jeans. 

He turned back to give her a bored look, and she felt herself rage internally, “Yes, Hopps, get changed.” Rolling his eyes at her blank expression, he slammed the door shut on his way out, but not before raising his voice again, “Don’t dress like a cop!”

Then he was gone, leaving a still infuriated Judy Hopps staring at the door. Why on earth did he have to be like that? After all, it was him  who had angered  _ her _ to begin with. She would just wait it out, and make him come back up to her. Yeah, that would work.

But she already knew that wouldn’t be the case, and truth be told, she was too curious about the opportunity to crash through the fox’s facade. And she had asked, after all. After a moment or two she sighed, as she looked around and thought on the fox’s orders, “Don’t dress like a cop? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

In the end she settled for jeans and a tank top, covered up with one of her favourite jackets. It was casual, and Judy assumed causal would easily translate to civilian. Despite herself, she was half-hoping for some praise from the fox when she exited the building - only to find him leaning against a wall, crutches set aside and arms firmly crossed. Oblivious.

He didn’t look up from where he was scowling at his toes. 

“Where’s our ride?” Judy asked, if only to alleviate the conflicting annoyance and concern both growing inside of her at his silence. The term passive aggressive was sufficient, given the way Nick’s lips twitched downwards at her voice. 

Admittedly, Judy couldn’t keep the bite back herself. 

“On it’s way,” Wilde growled dismissively.

Judy lasted about two minutes -- it might have been thirty seconds or only one minute, but to be fair she couldn’t stand it much longer. Natural impatience, followed by the adrenaline of an argument (that was still technically ongoing) caused her to huff in irritation, her foot tapping against the concrete in a rapid tattoo.

“How far away is this Zuber, anyway?” Judy said, remembering the fox’s penchant for the mobile app. The best thing since sliced bread, she remembered him describing it. And she knew he could track it on his phone. 

“Not a Zuber.”

“A taxi?” 

“Nope.” 

Judy stared at him, confused. Partly because she wanted to smack a real answer out of his fat fox head, and partly because it wasn’t making sense, again. “Then who …”

She got her answer almost immediately, but not from the fox. Or  _ that _ fox to be exact. The sounds of rap music blaring from cheap speakers and a rusted exhaust pipe firing in the distance alerted her to the presence of Finnick’s van swinging around the corner. The red van looked like a drop of blood against the colourful backdrop of the city streets.

The grey bunny turned back to Nick in exasperation, “You called him all the way out here just so you wouldn’t have to pay for a taxi?”

The red fox shrugged, “He was on his way here anyway. In fact, he’s late.”

“Wait a minute,” Judy’s ears lowered in question. This was the first she’d heard of Finnick mentioned. “Why was he coming here to begin with?”

Judy caught Nick’s eyes widening a fraction before he replied casually, “Not relevant.”

The gaudy red vehicle came to a squealing halt in front of them, Judy involuntarily covering her ears. Nick didn’t even flinch, just pushed himself off the wall and gestured with his head for Judy to follow as he worked his crutches. 

Meanwhile, inside the van, the fennec fox had turned down the music and was now looking at them through his window. “‘Sup Judy,” he nodded cheerfully, before turning to Nick with a stage whisper, “What’s the rabbit doing here?”

He was met with silence. Nick didn’t answer until they skirted around the four wheeled deathtrap. Hobbling to the passenger side door, the red fox motioned Judy inside before climbing up next to her, leaving the bunny sandwiched awkwardly between the two predators. Not exactly the place she wanted to be just now, especially considering what she was glimpsing on the floorboards. 

“Change of plans, Finn,” Nick said, and a look passed between the two of them that Judy couldn’t read, and she again wondered what the original plan had been. “Hopps wants to take  a field trip.”

The smaller fox caught the edge in Wilde’s tone and raised an eyebrow, “Where to?”

“Happytown.” 

If Nick’s attitude towards the name wasn’t enough, Finnick’s reaction was almost enough to convince her to concede the point. It was as if they’d robbed a bank, and Nick had just started mentioning the place where they’d stashed the haul. The desert fox looked up with warning in his eyes, “Nick, not sure that’s a good idea--” 

“It was her idea,” Nick argued curtly, “so let’s take the bunny where she wants.”

Judy winced inwardly  at the impersonal name, and suspected the red fox had barely held back the prefix ‘dumb’ from the comment. Her anger, which had temporarily been displaced by her curiosity, flared up again.  “Yeah, and we’ll just let the the fox pout and brood along the way,” she snarked under her breath.

Finnick gave the rabbit an an apologetic look, before pulling out onto the road. The rest of the drive was conducted in a stale silence, the little fox not even bothering to turn up the stereo's volume as he threaded his way through the streets, past downtown and onto an empty overpass cutting towards the midground between Sahara Square and Savannah Central. 

The road was called Lion’s Way, and Judy caught a glimpse of the large hill that the street climbed towards. They were maybe three hundred metres away from the crest of the hill. She could see nothing past it, but vaguely recalled seeing a small basin, almost a crater, on the city map in the police headquarters. 

For the life of her, Judy couldn’t remember ever going there on assignment or hearing another officer do so. Strange.

It wasn’t until they crested the top, almost thirty seconds later, that she saw why. The billboard was the first thing that stuck out and she stared at it. On the image it showed a suburb as well, with green lawns and white picket fences, the words “Welcome to Happytown” clearly against it in old-fashioned lettering. Kindly neighbours were shown chatting over fences, while stately cars cruised the street. A happy town indeed.

But once you looked past the billboard, you saw the reality. The district stretched out before her, and far off she could see the other three walls of the crater like a backdrop, hemming the district in. It was a panorama coloured in the three essential artistry colours of dirty cement, faded brick and dead grass. The only things that diverged from this vibrant colour scheme was the lewd graffiti and the occasional rotted wood. It brought to mind a movie Nick had made her watch early on in their friendship, set in a post-apocalyptic city starring Will Sloth.

“There you go, Hopps,” Nick muttered beside her, staring out the window with a hard expression, his voice a sarcastic cheer, “Happytown. Is it everything you imagined? Afterall, it can’t be that bad, since Happy is in the fucking name, like you said.”

The jibe was effective in it’s timing. The realisation hit Judy like a punch to the gut. The place looked like a ghost town. Judy was about to snap something back, although her heart wasn’t really in it,, when Finnick growled from beside her, “Don’t be an asshole Nicky-or at least any more than usual.”

The red fox glared at him over Judy’s head, before returning to the window once more. He let out a heavy breath, “Of course. After all, no one actually calls it that anymore. It’s known to the rest of us as the Warren, or the Slums, or the-- Hey Finn, what are the other names going around nowadays?”

The little fox took his eyes off the road to stare at the his tall companion. Debating his role in this game. Finally, he rolled his eyes and relented, listing off each name with a separate finger drum against the steering wheel, “The Ghetto, Pred City, Predsville, the Foxhole, the hell-hole…”

Nick perked up, “Huh? Hellhole, that’s new. Fitting.”

Judy couldn’t even spare the time to reply to the fox; instead, she was still staring at the sight around her. She didn’t expect anyone to be living in a place like this. Almost every shop and business had been shut down, no matter the occupation. She saw a hardware store and dentist’s office side by side, both windows broken in. Across the street another building was covered in Ivy and the windows boarded up. Her eyes were drawn to the sign overhead, where the only legible word that remained was ‘Menswear’.

Yet as they travelled further into the heart of the wasteland she saw mammals out and about. A badger pushing a stroller. A bear drinking beer on his front porch. A bobcat checking the mail after returning home. The sheer variety of species that lived side by side on the streets was impressive, and yet she was most struck by the species that were missing. 

Because everyone she saw  was a predator.

“You two still sightseeing,” Finn asked, “or can I turn this van around?”

Out of reflex, Judy looked to Nick. This was unfamiliar territory to her anyway. The fox stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head, “No. We’d better go visit the old man, while we’re here. I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.”

Judy’s look changed to an open mouthed stare;throughout all her time with Nicholas Piberius Wilde he’d never mentioned his family nor any details about his personal life before meeting her, except for his brief experience with the Ranger Scouts. And now, out of the blue, he was taking her to meet his father. She was still angry at his coldness and aloofness, but on the other hand part of her was genuinely touched to be finally meeting the family of her partner.   It was all very disorienting.  It was like she had been hammering at the surface of a frozen pond, advancing a crack at a time, and had suddenly broken through and plunged into the icy cold.  It was uncomfortable, but definitely fast-moving.

“You’re right,” Finn grunted, “he’ll find out if we didn’t, and then he’ll come after you. Which will likely also include me, seeing as I drive you everywhere. Do the Irish mob still do car bombs?”

Judy started to laugh at the fox’s joke, but stopped when Nick answered with a deadpan shrug, “I think so.”

The rabbit gaped in horror, glancing between the two. Suddenly she wasn’t so excited to meet the relatives.

* * *

She spotted the place from a mile away, it’s cream walls and wooden features, bright against the enduring grey of the district. A sign on the roof read in block letters ‘THE ROBIN HOOD HOTEL’ with a red arrow through one of them. 

Judy raised an eyebrow at the two foxes, to see if they were as nervous as she was. Out the front of the place was a variety of predators, all looking rough and hardened by scars and tattoos as they sat in their seats. Sipping their beers through tight jaws. They watched the van pull into a park from over the rim of their drinks and through the haze of their cigarettes. Judy only felt the sense of fear sharpen.

But the foxes showed no such hesitation, exiting the car without further aplomb and Judy had no choice but to follow. Instantly all eyes turned to her, a grey little bunny in a sea of sharp teeth and claws. A babe in the woods. She felt the hairs on her neck stiffen in response until she felt a paw rest comfortingly on  her shoulder, urging her into movement. 

She looked up to see Nick nodding absently in encouragement, forgetting their squabble momentarily in order to bolster her confidence. His face had an odd expression to it, almost concerned.  Even he wasn’t that mean. He was still her partner, after all. The rabbit sighed and started walking, with Finnick in the lead forging a wide path despite his diminutive size.

They made it to the door before just as a commotion within happened. Judy didn’t even have time to register Finn jumping to the side before Nick was snatching her off her feet, pulling them both out of the way. A blur of bodies flew past and out onto the street, landing in a roll on the cement. Another moment and their attacker stormed out, a big red fox with arms like a sailor’s and a black and green ensemble, cursing at them.

“...and if you ever pull a fucking stunt like that again, I’ll pluck out your claws with a pair of tweezers  and show you how a blind man  performs a fucking acupuncture. You hear me!”

“Come on Carrots,” Nick murmured, edging her towards the doors, “we’ll meet Todd inside.”

Still, Judy hesitated, gesturing at the unfortunate weasel and otter cowering on the ground, “Shouldn’t we do something?”

The fox shook his head resolutely, “Nope, never. We’re not cops here, Carrots, remember?”

Judy wanted to argue, but Nick and Finnick were already walking through the door, one swaggering, and the other haltingly swinging forward on his crutches.

The rabbit wasn’t eager to be left outside alone with the other predators and the still cursing fox, so she hurried inside. And stopped. If the outside had seemed like a lit flare amidst the shabby streets, than the interior was a lighthouse. New green paint accompanied dark wood panelling on the walls, whilst thick rich carpet did the same on the ground. All the furniture looked like it had been hand carved for maximum comfort and the bar was immaculate, even cleaner than the most popular cop bar in town, it’s black marble surface glossy and pure. 

The only thing that ruined the moment were a dozen pairs of eyes locking onto her like heat seeking missiles. Judy felt instantly reminded of those scene in the Old Westerns, where every stranger that entered the saloon was eyeballed with suspicion. Growing flustered, but not risking showing it, she strode  after her two companions, sidling up to the bar and hopping up onto a spare stool.

“Well, well,” a slim young fox said from the other side of the bar, making his way towards them, dressed in black pants and a green dress shirt, “fancy seeing you here. The two Nicky’s.” The fox had an accent, but it was clear he emphasized it when he turned to Judy, “And it appears you brought a guest.”

“Sean,” Nick nodded as he turned to Judy, “this is Hopps.”

“Hey Sean,” Finn followed, “How you doing?”

Sean cocked a grin, “Never better. What’s the crack?”

“Wait- Sorry, don’t mean to interrupt,” Judy piped up, feeling like an outsider looking in, “but I’m not following. Two Nicky’s? ‘What’s the crack’?”

“Oh, sorry, where are my manners, Hopps?” Sean said in a tone that said he was not sorry at all, but then maybe that was just an innate fox expression. It appeared as though this was a routine, using the phrase to garner discussion. He carded his fingers through his fur as he  continued, “let’s see, the ‘two Nicky’s’ are our two friends here, Fin- _ nick  _ and  _ Nick- _ olas. As for ‘what’s the crack?’”

“It means ‘what’s up’ for four-leaf clover lovers, Judy,” Finn explained, cutting through the Irish drawl of the bartender. 

Sean shot him a disgruntled look, before continuing in his stressed accent once more, “Exactly. So what’s the… what’s happening? You here for a drink or something?”

Finnick huffed a laugh, “Or something.”

Nick finally leant his crutches to his satisfaction and started the awkward motion of sitting into the crutches, “We’re waiting for Todd, Sean.”

All three jumped in surprise as a loud voice announced from behind them, “Well wait no more, boys and girls, because the fantastic Mr. Todd is  _ here,  _ for one night only.”

Judy turned around and instantly flinched again. It was the same fox from outside, the broad shouldered vulpine clad in black pants and waistcoat over a green shirt, matching the bartender’s own uniform. She’d thought Gideon Gray back home had been heavyset, but he was almost dwarfed by the fox they called Todd. Up close the fox was even scarier than outside, with arms as thick as her torso and fur the dark reddish-brown of dried blood.

But instead of swearing his fox head off, he was smiling broadly his arms wide as he soaked up their attention. “I’m just kidding, I’m here all week. Heck, they’ll probably bury me in the cellar with a barrel of whiskey.”

Before any of them could react, he hurried off to the break of the bartop, coming back in front of them. “You know Nicky, being a civil servant doesn’t seem to be improving your health.”

“Neither was working with the Murphy’s, but you never let that stop you,” Judy’s partner smirked. “At least my guys cover medical.”

“Don’t remind me.” he turned to Finn, “And, my oh my, little Finnigan, look at you. Is it just me, or have you grown taller!  Why, you’re almost to my kneecap now!”

The fennec fox’s smile was all teeth, “Fuck you too, Todd.”

“In your dreams, kid.” They were talking in inside jokes that only left Judy even more confused. But finally the fox turned to the rabbit, and his face lit up with an indescribable expression, although ‘alarming’ might come close.

Anxiously, Judy held out a paw, “Hi, I’m Judy…”

“Judy Hopps!” the old fox said with undisguised glee.

Judy paused. Stared. “You know who I am?”

“Of course I do, you’re Judy Hopps; class valedictorian, officer extraordinaire, foiler of sheep, tamer of foxes, mother of dragons... “ Todd paused, frowning in thought as he pulled out three glasses from below the bar, “Actually, forget that last one, I was thinking of something else. My name’s Todd Stewart anyways, and Nicky here, has told me all about you.”

“Really?” Judy said, glancing at the red fox in question, and received an undisguised eyeroll in response.

“Couldn’t get him to talk about anything else. A lot of high praise. It definitely built up my expectations.  Been looking forward to meeting you for quite a while now.  Really needed to see for myself whether there was actually a halo over your head, because the way he talks about you, oh boy!” He flicked a mischievous grin toward Nick, who scowled back.

Shrugging, Todd turned to the other bartender and grasped his shoulder, “I’ve got this Sean; you go ahead and hold down the rest of the fort.” 

“Sure thing boss,” the younger fox snarked, as he made his way down the bar, with a swagger in his steps and a smirk on his lips. 

Todd looked after him, and muttered to himself, “Boss? Why boss? What ever happened to dad, huh?”

Judy swallowed as the phrase sparked her memory. “So you’re Nick’s father?”

Todd startled, staring at her. “What? No, I’m not. Why would you think that…” As the thought crossed his mind he turned on the ‘two Nickys’, pointing his finger in accusation, “Have you two been throwing that ‘Old Man’ shit around again? Huh?”

Both foxes studiously avoided his gaze, and Todd groaned. The old fox started pacing as he pulled out a bottle filled with a deep dark liquid from beneath the bar, muttering to himself about how he ‘wasn’t  _ that _ old.’ Finally he turned back to them, depositing a glass from earlier in front of each and plastering a smile onto his face, “Kits, Judy. They’re all a bunch of filthy ingrates.” 

“Kits?” Judy frowned, glancing at Finnick and Nick, “But I thought you said you weren’t their…” 

The fox shrugged, pouring two fingers worth of the spirit into Nick’s glass, “I’m not. Might as well be though, cause I taught them everything they know.” 

“Bullshit,” Finnick coughed into his paw. 

Todd stared at the little fox as he filled Finnick’s drink, not looking once at where he was pouring. Judy was able to read the label now. It was a scotch. “I’ll admit, not a big achievement. You’re both a pair of stupid fuckers who couldn’t find your own asses if I gave you a mirror on a stick, but teach you I did.”

The three foxes smiled viciously at each other, and Judy realised that this was a game between them. Seeing who could piss the other off the most. She broke the standoff uneasily, clearing her throat. “Sorry, I don’t understand.”

Todd turned back to her, a genial smile on his lips once more. He shrugged amiably, “Apologies Judy, I keep forgetting you’re new around here. Anyway, these two ugly mugs did a stint here, working for me, back when they were young and still knew everything.”

“You own this place?” 

If anything the fox smiled even more brilliantly, “Sure do. She’s my pride and joy.” There was a vague ‘Oi!’ from Sean down the bar, and Todd rolled his eyes, amending, “My  _ other _ pride and joy. I built her from nothing.”

Judy nodded, genially making conversation, “Have you been a bar owner all of your life then?”

The maroon furred fox laughed, “I’ve been a  _ fox _ all of my life, a barman for some of it. Only fifteen years or so, actually.”

That made Judy listen in more closely, her curiosity peaked. All age jokes aside, she estimated Todd to be in his fifties - maybe his sixties, at most. Fifty years minus fifteen made thirty-five. Maybe it was Finnick and Nick alluding to it earlier, but Judy was curious as to what the heavy set fox did previously.  “Before that?”

There was a pause. “Not really sure how to describe it, rabbit. Manual stuff, blue collar work. Did odd jobs for people. Didn’t really have a name for it.”

“Odd jobs? Like?”

Todd smiled at her, “Full of questions, aren’t you? No wonder you’re so good at solving cases.”

“Just curious about Nick’s mentor,” Judy retorted, not bothering to hide the smile that spread across her own lips.

“You know what they say about curiosity, officer,” he gave her a wink. “Not too many people like others nosing around in their business. I’m above all that, myself.”

Finnick almost choked on his sip of alcohol, and Nick looked sceptical. When the fennec fox finally caught his breath he laughed, “Bullshit! You’re the biggest gossip I know.”

“Pictures,” Todd replied. “Pictures, little Finnigan, or it didn’t happen.”

Absently, on auto-pilot, Todd moved to pour the whiskey into Judy’s glass. She quickly cleared her throat and pointed at the spirit in his hand.  Todd stared at her blankly, blinking once before looking at the bottle. He still hadn’t poured a drink. Then he threw his head back and laughed, “Of course, what am I thinking? You’re Judy Hopps. You’re a hero. I can’t serve you this. Hell, I wouldn’t let my worst enemy drink this swill.” 

The two Nicky’s, both in the process of sipping from their own glasses, glanced up at him pointedly. Todd just stoppered the bottle and placed it back where it belonged. He spun around looking at the shelves of liquor on display behind the bar. 

Scratching his head, he looked at her over his shoulder, “Whisky, rum, vodka. What’s your poison, sweetheart?”

Judy suddenly felt awkward, and she rubbed her arm self-consciously. She was still feeling vulnerable in the light of her and Nick’s fight. And she was a cop, even if she was sitting in this bar full of shady characters and wearing a casual ‘not-a-cop’ outfit. Wetting her lips she told him politely, “Maybe I shouldn’t…”

Todd immediately froze. Like an atheist had just shunned his personal deity, the god of wine and booze. Then he shook his head with a laugh, “Now, why’s that? I don’t see no beatcop blues here missy, no brass badge. You’re not on duty. And it would reflect badly on me if I didn’t get you a drink, now.”

Judy thought about it. There really was no harm in it, she supposed. Besides, that last little comment stirred up a little of the farm background in her. Hospitality. It would be rude to say no, especially without a reason. 

Then again, Judy suspected that every fox would be able to sell grains of sand in the desert. Regardless she conceded. “You’ve got a point.”

The older fox beamed, “Perfect. So what can I get you?”

Judy looked along the rows of uniquely shaped bottles. Each one seemed to have a different shape to the glass container, and it wasn’t long before she spotted one she knew. Maybe it was the rural sentiment that reminded her of home, but she remembered her father drinking the beverage on his porch one sunset. A pleasant memory, and she hoped the alcohol would be pleasant too.

She pointed, and Todd’s head swivelled around to follow the line of her finger. “Ah, good choice. Bourbon. I knew there was a reason I liked you, Officer.” He reached up and retrieved the drink, and in a moment had filled Judy’s glass for her. 

“Hey Todd,” Nick hissed before Judy could express her gratitude, “how about you lay off the ‘officer’ talk, huh? We’re trying to keep it on the down low.”

Todd rolled his eyes, “Sure thing. Although you do realise that your better half here has had her face plastered on every television screen and paper at least once this past year, right?”

“Still,” Judy’s partner said petulantly, “just keep it quiet.”

“Fine. Be like that,” the bar owner shook his head, “So what is so important that you three came running into my neck of the woods? Seeing as it’s so dangerous and all.”

Nick huffed a breath, “Carrots here was wondering about Happytown. Apparently,  _ she _ was convinced that this town isn’t a hellhole.”

“Nick, come on man, lay off her,” Finnick grumbled. He was nursing his scotch, listening to everything without looking up. Annoyed. And Judy felt slightly guilty for dragging him into this fight. Although it hadn’t been  _ her  _ choice.

“What the hell’s the matter with you today, Nicky?” Todd said, clueless. 

The other red fox just glared, “Nothing. Just answer the question.”

Judy saw something flash over Todd’s features at the comment. That same violence that he’d demonstrated outside with the two troublemakers and her heart caught a moment. Nick must have seen it too, because he stiffened before blurting out a hurried, “Please.”

For a second, she thought the burly fox was still going to wallop her partner. But then he glanced around, remembered Judy was there and forcibly calmed himself down. 

“Alright. Fine.” Todd looked at the trio for a moment, “Okay, where do we start?”

“Why don’t you give her the history lesson?” Nick said. “You were always better at telling it.”

It was flagrant bootlicking, and everyone was aware of it. But perhaps it was a wise idea, given how close they’d come to physical blows. The old fox himself finally sighed and rubbed his neck. 

“Oh yeah, I can do that.” Todd turned to Judy, “First off, I got a little trivia for you. Do you know that there has only ever been one predator mayor of Zootopia, ever?”

“Actually… no. No, I didn’t,” Judy admitted. She expected a feeling of embarrassment to come over her at the display of naivety. But the fox just shrugged, rubbed his muzzle and began recounting the story. 

Mayor Leodore Lionheart was indeed the first carnivorous mayor in history, but unbeknownst to Judy, his election had been a fluke. Two terms before him, Zootopia was under the control of Timothy Pachys. An elephant and, considered by some, the most competent leader in the city’s history. 

But Pachy’s came to term with a problem awaiting for him.

“Have you ever heard that little statistic politicians like to throw around? That zootopia is ninety percent prey.”

Judy felt her throat dry as she recalled the same words Mayor Bellwether had given her. Finally she nodded, “Yeah.”

“Well, that wasn’t always the case. Once upon a time, we counted as less than five percent of the population.” 

At the dawn of Tim Pachy’s administration, the predator count was on the the rise. With the increasing presence of the minority, and prey species panicked. The city was threatened with hysteria, a populace turned against themselves. Prey slandered preds, and the preds retaliated in kind. 

So Mayor Pachys formed a plan; separate the two warring factions. He invested in one of the more abandoned districts of the city, renovating the buildings and cultivating the neighbourhood. Renaming the ghost town Happytown, and offering the lowest rent and prices available exclusively to predators, it was only a matter of time before the predator population migrated en masse to the district. A predator sanctuary.

Not one of them noticed the fences that had been built to enclose the place. 

It was Pachys masterstroke. Enticing the smaller group inside willingly, and offering the rest a false sensation of safety He could lock the problem group away safely and cement his support. Two birds with one stone. 

All that was needed now, was to make it legal. So he put forth a legislation to segregate all metropolitan predators to Happytown. 

Judy stiffened, startled, “You’re kidding me. There’s no way that would work.”

“Oh yeah,” Todd told her, “And he almost got away with it too. You gotta understand, this happened over several years; slow and subtle.”

The citizens were by now comfortable with the absence of predators, and figured, hey, what the hell? It’s basically already a rule. Meanwhile the inhabitants of Happytown had been cordoned into the district by blackmail, threat and the occasional police brutality. Inside the chainlink fence, it had become a living hell. 

But with the Mayor only needing a majority vote, there was nothing they could do to fight it. 

“Then what stopped him?” Judy asked. She half-expected the foxes to jump up and laugh. Ha, just kidding. The tale seemed that outlandish. 

“A cop,” Todd smiled. “You see, whilst the elephant was scheming and backstabbing behind closed curtains, publicly he was the soul of an upright civil servant. Hell, some of us predators still adored him at this point.

“But things weren’t so rosy at home. Whilst he was happy to do whatever it took to maintain power, his wife was a lot more soft hearted. She caught on, and made to release the information to the press unless he stopped his wicked ways.”

“And?”

“And he murdered her of course.” 

Judy blanched, “Come again?”

“Oh he made it look like something else. Got rid of the body, claimed she’d run off with another long nose -- really played it up for the media, got them on his side. As far as they were concerned he was just another poor sap who’s faithless wife had left him.”

“Then how…”

“ Some rookie cop caught him out. Had a death wish; wouldn’t stop digging when his superiors kept telling him to lay off . Stumbled onto the good mayor disposing of evidence; a real hand in the cookie jar type deal and Pachys was promptly arrested.”

“What does this have to do with Happytown though?”

“I was just getting to that. After Mayor Pachys was outed, they elected another prey mayor -- a moose I think. Maples or some other name. When Maples attempted to conform to some of his predecessors policies, he was outed faster than a skunk on a hot day. Everything that the previous mayor had touched was basically toxic waste -- career suicide.

“So when the prey population, momentarily aligned with the preds in sympathy, voted in a lion by the name of Leodore Lionheart, the new mayor couldn’t do anything about Happytown. Obviously, we were now allowed to leave. But there were no rehousing plans in the work, no effort to clean up the district. Hell, even the public services and council organisations were too afraid to go near the neighbourhood, lest their paws be sullied and contaminated.”

Finally the fox leant forward on the bar, his elbows braced under him, “So the town was left as it is. A village of predators, lured here under the pretense of paradise and too late realising that there was no way out. We tried to govern ourselves for a time, but between the gangs and the lack of work available, things quickly went to shit. All because one mayor was too dirty to treat preds the same as any other mammal.”

Judy stared at him trying to compute the information. As a kit out in BunnyBurrow, Zootopia had been this shining beacon of civilisation, understanding and cohabitation. She’d idolized everything from the concrete streets to the untarnishable mayors that ran it all. It was the deity she gave reverence to in her dreams.

But the longer she stayed in the city, the more she began to realise how fake that image was. Someone had once told her that ‘ bright paint and oblivious advertisement hides the rotten decay evident below the surface’, and she’d laughed it off. Now every day brought a new revelation to hammer the truth in, more stories like this one, that this city was not everything she’d hoped.

Heresy. Once upon a time, her mind would have treated it like such. Not anymore.

Yet still, all she could think to say in light of the revelation was, “Wow.”

The harsh barking laugh from the other side of Finnick drew their attention, “Real articulate, Carrots.” Nick looked at the bottom of his glass before hopping off the stool, ”No wonder you rock those press conferences.” 

The barb was cutting, and Judy visibly flinched.   “Yeah, well at least I’m not a jerk about it.”

The other two foxes glared at Nick on her behalf, waiting for an apology. Instead Nick just smirked, “By all means, don’t stop on my account. I’m just going to dash off to the little fox’s room.”

Judy, Finn and Todd watched him go, shuffling off with his crutches and disappearing through a doorway in the corner of the room. Finnick scowled, “What an asshole.”

“Yeah, something like that…” Judy muttered, feeling guilty. After hearing Todd’s horror story, and recalling her argument with Nick back at the apartment, her heart wasn’t really into being angry with him. Maybe she should have just trusted Nick’s dismissal of her housing choices. 

Someone clearing their throat caused Judy to look up.

Todd stared at her for a hard minute, and Judy felt naked under his scrutiny. It brought her back to a time when she was a young kit under her grandparent’s stern gaze as she explained a bloody scratch on her cheek. 

Finally, the bar owner sighed, “Alright, rabbit, what’s the matter?”

“The matter?” Judy winced, “Nothing’s the matter.”

“Just because I’m old, doesn’t mean I’m blind. You two haven’t exactly been making googly eyes at each other; In fact I’d say it was the opposite.” He pointed a stern finger at her, “What have you two done to get at each other’s throats like that, huh?”

“Googly eyes?” Judy asked, but when the fox stared pointedly, she groaned, “Yes, we had a… I guess you could call it a frank discussion.”

“A frank discussion?” Finnick laughed into his glass, “Whose Frank and what was he discussing?”

Todd rolled his eyes at the shorter fox before turning back to her, “You had an argument?”

“Yes,” Judy admitted. “But I was trying to help. It’s just that Nick hasn’t been himself… since the crash. We’ve been trying to move out together and his head’s just not in it.” Judy paused to let it sink in, but both of the foxes faces didn’t change in the slightest. “I think it hurt him, this recent  car crash, psychologically as well as physically. Hell, I woke up to him crying in his sleep last night -- some sort of nightmare.

“But when I asked him about it, he just denies it. Acts like I’m freaking out when all I’m trying to do is help him. But I can’t help him if I don’t know what’s wrong!” Judy said in frustration. She barely held back the urge to hit her face on the bar top in defeat.

But she was glad she didn’t. Otherwise, she would have missed the look that passed between the two foxes. It was a sobering exchange, an expression of recognition.

“Wait a second,” Judy told them, “you  _ know _ , don’t you? Both of you. You know what’s bothering him; why he’s so upset.”

Both foxes stared at her for a second, until finally Todd shook his head, “Sorry, but it’s not our story to tell, I’m afraid.”

Judy looked to Finn, but the fox stubbornly remained silent. Frustrated, she pleaded, “Please? I can’t help him if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Listen Hopps,” Finnick sighed, “Do you ever wonder why Nick never drives anywhere? Ever notice how he exclusively plays passenger?”

Judy stopped, confused. What did that have to do with anything? “Yeah, I noticed. I just assumed he was being lazy. Why drive when you can have your partner do it for you?”

“Lazy? Hell, I don’t think the guy even knows how to drive.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Judy,” Todd said, “let’s just say that he has a reason not to.”

“What do you mean?”

“A long time ago, Nick lost his… he lost someone close to him. It was a hit and run, another fox dead on the street. The police didn’t even bother to investigate, and it wasn’t until I read it in the papers, myself, that someone actually told him. He’s hated cars and driving ever since.”

Judy stared at them for a moment, uncomprehending. Nick had lost someone? And the police hadn’t given a damn in the slightest. Suddenly his snide reaction to police officers when she first met him made sense. 

And then the second bit dawned on her, 

“A hit and run, you say?”

“Yeap,” Finnick answered, “just like this thing now.”

“And you think he’s having nightmares of this other crash… which you won’t give me the full details about either.”

Todd snorted, “As I said, it’s not my story to tell.”

Finnick sighed, “Listen Judy, let me tell you one thing I know. Nick Wilde is only scared of three things. You already know about the muzzles. But car crashes are next on the list.”

“And the third?”

“I thought it would have been obvious by now, girly. Himself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so confession time. I was going to upload this ten thousand word beast of a chapter all in one go, and IT IS all finished... but.  
> But, someone told me that if I upload both parts immediately, I'll have you guys breathing down my neck before the week is out. So I came up with a compromise, you'll get the second half of this chapter on Friday.   
> And just to make it interesting, I'd like to announce that part 2 will start with an unexpected (I had absolutely no idea it would happen) Nick Wilde POV!!! Yay!  
> Now I'll leave you with that teasing thought, and say ciao until Friday!


	8. Happy is only in the name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, it's friday - time to oblige you fans with that extra chapter. Enjoy!

Nicholas Piberius Wilde let the cold water run into his paws, the liquid pooling in the palm of them, before splashing it into his face. It took another few attempts before the moisture properly soaked his red fur. But in the end he relished the cool chill settling into his skin. 

It awakened him, chasing away the tiredness creeping into his features. Made the growing headache a little more bearable. The slow ache had started that morning, when the bunny had accused him of crying in his sleep.

And what the hell was with her not taking no for an answer? It shouldn’t have been so hard for that hillbilly rabbit to trust the fox who’d lived in this city his entire life. The “metrosexual”as she’d called him, (and yes he’d looked it up, and no, no he was not). But of course,   _ she  _ would need a whole fucking history lesson in order to get why they were not, under any circumstances, living here. 

Then there was the  _ promise _ he’d made. Once upon a time, in the afterglow of a funeral, he’d made an oath. To get out of Happytown and never turn back. He still intended to keep it. Because fuck, he  _ had  _ made a promise. Probably the first one he ever intended to keep. But Judy didn’t know that - didn’t need to know.

The fox stopped as he caught himself in the mirror. A savage visage in a stupid grey tshirt (because seriously, what was wrong with a collar and buttons?), his lips curled back in anger and a thick crease on his brow. The water was still running.

He quickly caught some more and rubbed it into the dark circles under his eyes. Thumbs brushing away the dirt and sleep that seemed to cake there. Maybe, he had had trouble sleeping. And maybe he had had a nightmare of that night, from all those years before. But that didn’t give  _ her _ the right to go around calling him psychologically damaged .

Aggressively, he twisted the tap off with a dark paw. The fox in the mirror was still scowling, and with effort Nick smoothed out his expression before grabbing his crutches.  _ Don’t let them see they get to you _ , he breathed as he exited the men’s room into the outer corridor.

His resolve evaporated as he was confronted with an image of white fur and buxom curves. He struggled to keep the scowl off his lips as the vixen smiled brilliantly at him. Her voice was low and sultry as she spoke, “Well, well, Nicky Wilde. Fancy meeting you here?”

“Yeah, fancy that E,” he grunted. “Almost like you ambushed me outside the men’s bathroom.”

Esmerelda smirked, batting her eyelashes, “There is a women’s room here too.”

“Then why aren’t you standing outside that door instead of here?”

Her snow white snout pouted mockingly, “Aww Nick, you’re no fun. Is that anyway to treat a lady?”

“Well, when I find one,” Nick said as he tried to shuffle past her, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

Unfortunately, the crutches didn’t make it easy and halfway past, he found Esmerelda pressing him up against the wall. She all but purred as she leant in close, her breasts pressing against his own chest as her emerald eyes did a similar dance with his own green ones. “Come on Nicky, what happened to us? We used to have such a good thing going.”

Nick tried to straighten up, to get some height difference over her, but it was no use. Their eyes remained level. Not for the first time, he cursed his short stature. Instead he settled for scowling, “Really? You don’t remember what happened last time?”

“But Nickyyy, that was only a slight hiccup.”

“There were cops, E. And you left me to get caught!”

“But you didn’t.” Esmerelda smiled, reaching a paw to stroke a claw over the light fabric of his shirt sleeve, “Besides, you don’t need to worry about that anymore, do ya? I like this shirt by the way.”

Nick froze, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I like it, it’s very… slimming.”

“No, not that,” Nick growled. He grabbed the vixen by the shoulders, and held her at arm's length, putting some distance between himself and her… her. It was a survival instinct, like a fly getting wise to the Venus Flytrap, and learning to stay out of range of its jaws. “What did you mean by me not having to worry about cops?”

The damnable female had the nerve to laugh, throwing her head back and exposing the lustrous fur of her throat. “I meant it exactly the way I said it,  _ Officer Wilde _ . I guess all that practice with handcuffs finally paid off, huh?”

“Fuck you E,” he growled as he tightened his grip on her arms. “Who told you?”

“Please Nicky, no one told me. You can quit with the tough guy act now, by the way -- you were never that good at it.”

Nick narrowed his eyes, “Then why say it?”

“Hmm, let’s see,” Esmerelda made a show of thinking it over, a slender finger tapping at her blood red lipstick. “First, we don’t see you for what? Almost a year. And then when you finally do rock up, settling the bet on whether you were alive or dead that we had going, you only talk to Old Man Todd, no doubt fishing for information.

“Then, funnily enough, that old ferret Duke Weaselton-”

“Weasel,” Nick corrected.

“Potato tomato.” 

“It’s seriously in his fucking name, for christ sakes E.”

She rolled her eyes, “Anyways, that  _ weasel _ came in here and said he’d been laying low for six months. Apparently, the Bigs were going to ice him, because he wouldn’t answer the questions of some bunny cop and her fox friend -- specifically  _ you _ . And then there was that article in the newspaper-”

“Funny, I didn’t know you could read,” quipped the red fox, despite the growing ball of dread in his stomach. This was bad, this was very bad.

Esmerelda only smiled, and flipped him off with a white paw, “Anyways, guess what was on the front page of the paper? ‘ZPD’s first fox officer’. Right beside a picture of you, right next to that rabbit meal ticket of yours.” Finally the vixen smiled brilliantly, batting her eyelashes and puffing her chest out proudly, “So as you can see, I didn’t need to be told anything.”

Nick swore under his breath, drawing an amused look from the femme fatale. Of  _ course _ it would be his luck that the one time he hit the front page  _ she _ would happen to see it.  Counting to ten with his eyes closed, he opened them to find her giving him another sultry smile, “Alright Sherlock, does everyone know?”

“Oh, was it meant to be a secret?” her smile was wide and teasing. “No, not everyone is as caught up in you as you are, Nicky. Although…”

Nick stopped, already anticipating her next words. “Although what? What do you want, E?”

It was like someone had turned up the wattage on a dimmer switch, because the smile she gave him now was brighter than anything else she’d given him. He almost couldn’t tell the teeth from the fur.  For a moment, clouded by memories of soft lips and even softer touches, Nick was almost tempted. “Although, if you want to keep it that way, I have a favour to ask.”

Fucking hell, Nick thought. Just when he thought this week couldn’t get any worse. He had half a mind to walk out into the street and let another car finish the job off. “Blackmail, E? Seriously?”

“Who said anything about blackmail, Nicky? I just need a little help on a job, in exchange my lips are sealed.” The vixen made a motion of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. If only it was that easy.

Still, Nick Wilde laughed, pointing at the blue cast on his leg, “In case you haven’t noticed toots, I’m not exactly in fighting shape. I’m not going to be climbing through windows anytime soon. Leg’s kind of fucked.”

“No doubt a result of your recent career change, but I wouldn’t be needing you to climb through any windows, Wilde. You’d just be on lookout, watching for any cops and listening to the police chatter for anyone triggering any alarms. Easy-peasy.”

“Anyone triggering the alarms?” Nick said out loud, before lowering his voice quickly, “Jesus fucking christ and the holy goat, you’re planning a fucking bank robbery. Are you fucking kidding me?”

Esmerelda eyed him for a second, considering. Finally she smiled once more, pressing closer, “I’ll tell you what Nicky, how about we go elsewhere and I’ll convince you how serious I am.”

Nick physically recoiled, taking a step back and away from her, “No.”

“No?” her eyebrows shot up, surprised, before changing tack. “Listen here Nick, either you let me in on this little con your running, or I’ll out you to the rest of the guys.”

“What con?”

She gave him a soft look, “Nice try Nick, but I know you. You wouldn’t be shacking up with the ZPD if you didn’t have an angle, so what is it?”

Nick laughed at her, “There’s no angle, E. I’m a cop now; a changed fox.”

“Bullshit Wilde,” he was relieved to finally get a reaction from her, “I’ve known you since we were kits, and you never --never do anything out of the goodness of your heart.”

She paused, scrutinising, “So what are you getting out of it?”

Nick stared at her, anger boiling. How dare she say that about him? Say that  _ he  _ was the selfish one? His paws tightened around the foam grips of his crutches, and his chest tightened. Then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised; Esmerelda had always had that way with him, an ability to trigger the urge to fight or fuck her. 

“You know what? Fuck you Esmerelda.” Nick said as he slid past her, hammering his crutches into the ground with every step. As angry as he was, he’d rather be with Carrots than here, even if it meant sitting under the disappointed glares of his friends. Heck, that was starting to sound like a vacation .

Behind him, she stamped her foot in frustration, “Yeah well fuck you too, Wilde. You think you can just walk around like you’re better than the rest of us, huh? You always were a fucking narcissist.”

“Bye E.”

He kept walking, one step after the other. One step in front of the other. Nick only had to make it to out the hallway and the vixen wouldn’t dare continue, not if she didn’t want Todd throwing her out. A twisted part of him hoped she did. He’d love to see her albino tail thrown to the curb.

“How long do you think it’ll be before she realises, huh?”

_ Just keep walking Wilde, _ he whispered to himself.  _ All you gotta do is keep walking. _

So of course, he stopped and turned, mere feet away from the door. “Realises what?” he asked.

Esmerelda, that bitch, smiled at his reaction. Cooly, patiently, like a shark gliding its way towards a school of fish, she strutted up to him. Only when she was once again inside his personal bubble did she respond: “You might be able fool the rest of them, Wilde, but you can’t hustle  _ me _ . How long do you think it’ll be before that dumb bunny realises that she’s just a meal ticket for the big bad fox?”

Nick’s jaw tightened hard, “she’s not my meal ticket.”

“Really? Because I can’t think of any other reason for you not to have burned that Cottontail Copper the second you were free of that thing with the savages. But you didn’t answer my question, how long do you think it’s going to take before that stupid bitch realises you’re playing her?”

“E…” Nick warned.

“Will it be before or after you stab her in the back huh? Maybe she already has, especially given how salty you’ve been to her all night. The animosity between you two was starting to stink up the joint. If she’s got a smidgen of brains she’ll cut her losses now, but then I don’t have high hopes for a bimbobunny-.”

“Judy.”

That stopped the venomous vixen, “Excuse me?”

“Her name is Judy fucking Hopps,” Nick spat, “And you’ll leave her the fuck out of this.”

Esmeralda stared at him, stunned, and Nick thought for a second that he’d won. That maybe he’d finished this argument. The smile that spread across her muzzle answered his question, all teeth, “You actually  _ care _ about her, don’t you?”

When Nick didn’t reply, she smiled even more, “You do. Nicholas Wilde has the hots for a rabbit. And just when I thought you couldn’t get anymore fucked in the head.”

“E, shut up.” 

“Now, what was that other bitch’s name again? The coyote. I thought you would have learned your lesson from her, but you have to go one step further don’t you. I mean, a fucking bunny, seriously? Is this limbo -- is Nicky Wilde playing how low can you fucking go?”

“Seriously, Esmeralda, just stop it.”

But she was on a roll now, and the arctic fox couldn’t be stopped, “I’ve got to give you props though, most people get a lucky rabbit’s foot. But you, oh no, you had to grab the whole bunny. Like seriously, didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your food Nicky?”

“That’s it,” Nick snapped, “not another fucking word. I’ve known that rabbit for barely a year, and she’s already a hundred times more of a friend than you ever were. Unlike you, she doesn’t just see me as someone to use and drop as soon as the next fox rolls into town, she actually sees me, E. Who actually cares.”

"Oooh, she has you wrapped around her little paw, doesn't she? And here I thought you were the big bad pred taking advantage of the little naive bunny, but she's playing you, isn't she. The little grey cop has you on a short leash doesn't she? What, does she just snap her fingers and you just follow like a good little pet?"

“Just because you’re a backstabbing two bit floozy E, doesn’t mean everyone else is. Judy’s better than that.”

He started turning once more, but the vixen had another retort waiting, “If she's as smart as you say she is, how come she hasn't figured out how much of a sorry ass you are? Face it, you're only good at one thing, and that's fucking people over!”

“Fuck off E,” was all Nick could growl as he stalked off, shoulders hunched together in coiled anger. 

“About that question, Wilde,” Esmeralda fished once more and Nick stubbornly refused to pay any attention. Regardless, the vixen continued, “How long before she realizes everyone you get close to ends up dead or dying?"

Biting his tongue so hard he threatened to draw blood, Nick muttered, “Not everyone, unfortunately.”

Nick was internally seething, but fixed a casual expression on his face with all the effort of pushing a boulder to the top of a hill. Pointedly ignoring the look that the patrons close enough to the bathroom to have heard the raised voices, gave him. Because fuck them and their opinions.

Returning to the bar, he plopped back in his seat next to Finnick silently.

“Well, look who finally returned,” Todd said, his meaty red paws polishing glasses methodically, “I was about to send out a search party. What happened, you decide to take a swim?”

“Don’t be stupid, I forgot my bathing suit,” Nick grumbled, but when he looked up, the bar owner had a knowing look in his eyes. Damn Todd, of course he would have guessed that Nick had run into Esmerelda. The old fox didn’t miss a beat.

The other fox just shrugged, pouring Nick another drink without asking, and turned to the other two in conversation. He could tell Nick needed some time to himself.

As he sipped the cheap scotch, he spied his other two friends in his peripheral vision. Finnick was trading  barbs with Todd, and looking about as argumentative as he always did. But Nick was really looking at Judy. The rabbit seemed absorbed in the conversation going on, but there was an apprehension to her expression, a concern that showed each time her gaze flickered towards his. 

Nick felt a twist in his gut, like a cold knife digging in and settling into it’s new home. And he turned away in anger.

He hated Esmerelda, he decided as he started fiddling with the glass in front of him; twisting it around so that it spun in his paw like he would a coin. If he hadn’t been in a shitty mood beforehand, he damn well was in one now. 

That damn fox managed to push all his buttons in exactly the wrong way, and he knew deep down there was a reason for that. 

Because fundamentally, she was right. Sooner or later Judy would wisen up and leave him, and he was only fooling himself if he thought they were going to get anywhere. The only place they’d end up is in a train car hurtling at one-hundred-and-twenty towards a broken bridge. A trainwreck waiting to happen, he decided, was the accurate description, and it was no less spot on in describing their future together. 

And he was fucking terrified of it.

Cringing, he slung his head back and focused on emptying the glass of cheap liquor. When it was gone, he turned to steal another look at Judy, following the details of her face and body. The angle where her alert ears sprouted from her round head as she gave Todd her full attention. The way her clothing clung effortlessly to her body, sensual yet innocent in a way that Esmerelda had never achieved. 

Yeah, he was scared. Scared because Esmerelda was fucking right, and he knew it wouldn’t change a thing. Nick Wilde would cling to the fantasy of Judy Laverne Hopps until the moment of destruction; hopelessly pulling on a too slow brake to buy them every extra second before they went hurtling over the edge.

* * *

 

Judy stayed quiet, her mouth sealed as they wasted the evening in the company of Todd and the rest of the Robin Hood’s regulars. Suffice to say, she wasn’t intimidated by the older fox anymore, although she severely doubted that Finn and Nick’s allusions to Todd’s criminal past were a joke. 

But when Finnick called it a night, and Nick not long after, she didn’t hesitate in shaking the bar owner’s meaty paw. They left under a hail of goodnights and promises to come back and visit.

Thirty minutes later she stumbled into her bedroom, the injured red fox trailing behind her. He’d been quiet too, but Judy didn’t blame him, not after everything she’d heard tonight.

He’d spent the majority of his last few hours at the bar on his phone, ignoring everyone. And he’d been even more reclusive on the ride over. They’d still had yet to say a word to each other. 

Part of Judy was annoyed, she didn’t deserve this treatment. A lack of discussion had been what sparked the argument in the first place. If he’d just talked about his problems, explained to her the issues he was dealing with, she might be able to process it and react accordingly. Instead she’d had to ask third parties and listen into the latest gossip. 

But silence was a two way streak. 

The other part of her was grateful for the quiet, immensely grateful. How could she defend herself against his scorn now, with what she knew. She’d heard of his hurt. His history. And despite herself, she couldn’t help feeling sympathetic -- even slightly ashamed about how she confused assumptions with facts . 

The fox made it to the couch and flopped back, his red furred body heaving a sigh as he sank into the cushions. With effort he straightened out his limbs, the blue cast hovering in the air a moment as his joints popped. 

Judy felt that momentary guilt rise up again, and dragged her suitcase out from under her bed. It was the same one she’d first brought with her to Zootopia at what felt like a lifetime ago. Back then she’d had very few possessions worth bringing, the majority of her childhood mementos staying back home in her room, untouched since the day she left it. Clothes, ipod and toiletries were about all it could fit. Nowadays it wasn’t so functional; a laptop, framed photos, and more clothes made it officially too small to hold all the junk in her life. But it was still good for one thing.

Kneeling down in front of the red fox, his eyes shot to her instantly. Wordlessly, Judy lifted his injured foot. With the other paw, she dragged the hardbound suitcase to lay under it, the floral patterned material shrilling against the hardwood floor with the movement. Checking once more to make sure the casted foot was sufficiently propped up, she finally looked up at him, sighing.

“Nick,” she started, unsure of where to go from here. Nick had been right, Happytown was a nightmare - especially with his history - especially for a predator. The secret shame of the carnivorous species.  And yet she’d forced him to air it out, instead of just taking his word. She felt she owed him an apology for dragging him down that road  at least. 

Swallowing her misgivings, she sat down on the bed. Close enough to look him in the eye. Far enough to give him space. “Nick, I just wanted to say… about before, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m really...”

“Can it Carrots,” Nick cut her off, but not harshly. His tone was almost tender. “I’m the one who should be saying sorry. You’ve been here for me with… throughout this whole thing.” Judy noticed his finger trailing in circles over the arm of the sofa as he said this last bit, heard him try to stomach the emotion he was feeling.

He stopped the movement instantaneously, catching himself and squashing the nervous habit with a clenched paw. Finally he hung his head, “And I’ve been a real asshole in response. No, don’t deny it- I have been. So I wanted to apologise to  _ you _ , and you know… let you know that I  _ do  _ want this... this to work. I’m sorry, Judy.”

If the sight before her wasn’t pitiful enough, that last word was enough to move her. Still a pang of sympathy tugged at her heart, and she almost felt the urge to tell him what she’d heard. Not just from Todd and Finnick at the bar, but the other thing. 

The thing she’d overheard when she’d got up to go to the bathroom, but had instead stopped just outside the hall. 

The raised voices of two foxes; one white and one red, one male and one female, arguing. And the grey rabbit had heard every word before hurrying back to her seat. Judy was tempted to tell him, to remind him that he wasn’t useless and she wasn’t planning to ditch him. 

But he was her partner, and she knew better than to ruin the moment with the revelation. Nick would clam up again and they’d be right back to where they’d started. So instead she smiled, “Apology accepted. I don’t suppose this means you’re going to avoid being an asshole from here on out?” 

That brought a smile to the fox’s own lips, “No promises.”

Judy huffed a laugh at that before settling, “You know, this still doesn’t change the fact that we have to find more possibles.”

“Funny you should mention that,” the fox said, and threw her the phone that had occupied his paws for the last few hours. She barely had enough time to catch it.

Fumbling it against her chest, she pulled it back to look down at the document he had open. Four addresses were written down; Tundratown, Canyonlands, and two in the Rainforest District. All four of them were reasonably priced, and had notes confirming that they were indeed both predator and prey friendly. 

This was what he’d been doing on his phone all evening. 

Judy was stunned, but when she looked up at him, the fox just shrugged. “It’s about time I pulled some weight don’t you think?” When she was quiet a moment more, processing, he cocked a smile, “So what do you say Carrots? Despite everything, would you still like to move in with me?”

Judy shook herself with a smile, looking at the four places typed out on a phone screen. 

“I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So look at that. We've got a Nick POV scene in this fic now, they both seem to have overcome their issue. I guess the only thing to do now is start to wrap this story up. This marks the last legs of the story, and as always thank you to the betas, commentators and the rest of you fans who are silently watching from a distance like crazed stalkers -without all you guys this story wouldn't happen. And coffee, none of this would happen without coffee -uh the drink, not the me.  
> Anyways, tell us what you think of it all, and remember this Nick scene was accidental - ie not planned - so we've still got one more to go. Consider this a taste tester.  
> Alright, I'll let you go now, and can't wait to see everyone next time.  
> Ciao, Coffee*
> 
>  
> 
> *the person this time, not the drink. I'm not for consumption. Although technically I am edible, but as the great Willy Wonka said, that is called "cannibalism," my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies.


	9. UPDATE: Hot Night Crash on Hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long run of inactivity, but Hot Night Crash is now hiatus.

Hello everyone, Coffee here. Sorry, I haven't been on recently, and I'm even more sorry for the lack of news regarding the series.   
Unfortunately, I've been busy dealing with some personal stuff (ugh, life is always getting in the way of the Fandom), and I'm still trying to sort everything out. Because of that, I'm going to officially say that Hot Night Crash is on an indefinite break.   
I say indefinite break because although I won't be continuing the Elective Amnesia series as planned, I hope to come back and finish "Hot Night Crash" once I've got my stuff worked out.   
I'd like to thank my two betas for all the help they've given me while writing this fic; they've been an endless stream of support.  
Thank you to everyone who's read and followed the story so far, you guys are the best.   
Once again, sorry for the long wait and the disappointing update.  
Ciao, from AwwwCoffee_No.


End file.
